Falling In Love With A Demon
by IloveTeamSeth
Summary: Akira Kato's life was turned upside down by business man and underworld criminal Gato. With her parents murdered by his command, Akira finds herself on the run in order to escape the same fate. It just so happens that Gato hired Zabuza to kill her. By a turn of events, Akira finds herself with a choice that could determine her fate. Zabuza/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I don't own Naruto, I only own my OC. If I owned Naruto, Zabuza would have never died. **

** So, this is my first time really doing a Naruto Story that wasn't a short story, so please go easy on me. This also my first time writing a Zabuza fanfic so I hope I get his character right. Enjoy the Story!**

* * *

So here I was running again through a forest, trying to escape someone who was trying to kill me. I mean quite frankly I was getting pretty tired of this crap. It was getting pretty old. I mean doesn't Gato have anything better to do than trying to have me killed. Blowing a piece of hair out of my face I tightened my grip of my backpack and put a little burst of speed into my running. Branches and twigs were causing cuts to appear on any part of exposed skin, but I didn't care. The faster I got away, the quicker I could treat them.

I could sense a large chakra presence pretty close behind me. I had to get away from whoever it was fast. Sending some chakra to the soles of my feet, I felt myself start to run faster. The chakra presence seemed to get farther and farther away. I breathed relieved, but I knew I couldn't stop. Not while could run away.

I kept going in until I found a little cave in the forest. Doing a quick scan around the area, I saw that no one was around. My body was screaming for me to take a rest. Maybe if I took a quick rest, my body would feel a little refreshed. It was a risky move, but I had to try. I quickly went inside it, and put down my bag. Starting a fire could be risky and with my luck I would most likely be spotted, so I guess I'll just have to brace the cold. After trying to get as comfortable as you could get on a cave floor, I closed my weary eyes, and fell into a troubled sleep.

* * *

_"Can you show me Dad, please?" My eight year old self pleaded, looking up at my Dad with a puppy dog face. I could see his resolve breaking. For some reason the puppy dog face always seemed to work. My Dad was a sucker for it. "Please Dad! I promise I'll never do anything bad again. Please!" Dad laughed and patted me on the head affectionately on the head._

_"Fine, I'll show you, just don't tell your mom that I did." he said. I cheered in total happiness. My Dad took a deep breath and I saw him do a series of hand signs._

_"Wind Style: Air Hurricane Jutsu!" A great gust of wind came out of his hands, and flew in a great twirl towards the small pond that was in the backyard. The water flew up into the air and came back down almost like it was raining lightly. I was in absolute awe at what my Dad just did._

_"Wow, that was so cool! Can you teach me Dad?! Can you please?!" I asked eagerly. My Dad just smiled._

_"Sure." I spent the rest of the afternoon together learning how to do the jutsu and messing around with my Dad._

* * *

_"What are we going to do today Dad?" My now fourteen year self asked. My Dad and I were in a small meadow that was nearby our village. Almost everyday when we had the time, my Dad and I would come here and he would train me in simple and sometimes complex jutsus and weapons. I loved the time we got to spend with each other. Sometimes he would be gone on little business trips, and I would miss him like crazy. I guess I was a Daddy's girl, but I just saw it has having a really great relationship with my father._

_"We're going to work on you creating your own jutsu." I was excited and for the next three hours I worked on perfecting my new created jutsu. After our little training session we would always go to the local ice cream shop and order my favorite ice cream treat which was vanilla ice cream with rainbow and chocolate sprinkles. After getting our ice cream, we walked over and sat on a bench that was outside. Our heads were tilted up just looking up at the clouds._

_"You're improving immensely Akira." he stated proudly as he took a bite of his chocolate ice cream. A huge smile worked its way on my face._

_"Really?" I questioned trying to tone down my smile, but I couldn't help it. Those words meant a lot to me. I was trying so hard to someday be as good as my father. He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close into his side. I closed my eyes and breathed in his familiar scent._

_"Yeah. I wouldn't doubt that someday you will be better and more powerful than me."_

_"Someday I'll beat you old man." I teased as I stole a scoop of his ice cream. Dad laughed and took a swipe of mine as revenge. We looked at each other and laughed without a care in the world. I loved times like this that I spent with my Dad._

* * *

_My Mom and I were now splayed out on our couch, a bucket of popcorn was in between the both of us as we were watching a movie on the T.V. screen. It was one of those romantic dramas that could be really cheesy and predictable, but deep down you secretly loved them. Mom and I always did this when Dad went away for business._

_"Can you pass me the tissues?" Mom asked as she sniffled. I took one and passed the box to her. I blew my nose and I heard her do the same. "Thanks honey." I nodded my head in a "you're welcome," gesture._

_"We've seen this movie at least five times, but we still manage to cry like babies." I said wiping tears from my eyes. I was always a sucker for these types movies. Mom laughed shaking her head._

_"But you know what? I don't feel so bad." she stated with a small smile. "If we're called babies because we cry during a really good movie then so be it."_

_"Yeah, you're right Mom." I agreed with a smirk. "But I wish I could be in love like that." I said with a wistful sigh. Mom gave me a comforting smile._

_"Don't worry sweetie, you'll find someone some day. They'll be perfect for you despite their flaws and you'll be perfect for them despite your flaws. Both of you will balance the other out. When you find someone like that you know you have yourself a keeper." I cocked my head to the side in thought._

_"Were you and Dad like that?" I asked. A fond smile was present on Mom's face._

_"At first no. I didn't really like your father when we were younger. I found him quite annoying. He was the class clown, and I was at times the class know-it-all, but one day your father found me when I was feeling really upset. At first I told him to go away, that he was a nuisance, and that he would never be something, but your father just smiled and stayed there with me for the rest of day. I was completely baffled by that, but I admired him for trying to comfort someone even though they talked down to them. After that we started hanging out. He would walk me home everyday, and I would let him. Sometimes we would hang out at the park after classes were over. Well, overtime my feelings for him grew stronger. I wanted to be more than friends, and he told me he felt the same. The rest is history, we got married and had you." She finished with a nudge with her foot. I pushed it away playfully._

_"That was beautiful." I teased wiping a fake tear from my eye. Mom threw a piece of popcorn at me which I tried to catch in my mouth. I giggled and picked up a couple of DVDs. I spread them out in my hands, and turned them around so she could see them. "So, to the next movie."_

* * *

_It was late at night when a loud thumping noise woke me up. I was about to dismiss it as the house making noise and go back to sleep, but it only seemed to get louder. I threw my legs over the side of my bed and quietly tiptoed out of my room. I held my breath and walked carefully down the hallway. But a loud crashing sound stopped me in my tracks. It was then that my parents came carefully out of their room._

_"Mom, Dad." I whispered fearfully as I rushed over to where they were. Mom swept me into her arms._

_"What are you doing out here?" Dad questioned sternly. I looked up at him in fear. I looked around wildly._

_"I heard something thumping around downstairs. At first I wasn't sure what it was, but now I'm sure that somebody's down there." I explained frantic. Dad gripped the kunai that I just now noticed was in his hand tighter. I could hear voices murmuring around downstairs. Mom held me tighter._

_"I'll go downstairs and check it out. Akira stay here with your mother." Dad ordered. Mom moved forward with a fierce glare._

_"Katsumi, you know better than that. I'm not going to let you go down there by yourself. We're a team or have you forgotten that." she stated with a fiery voice._

_"Sora, I can't have something happen to you. You have to stay here and protect Akira."_

_"I don't need protecting, I can help you guys. Dad you've taught me well. Let me help you guys." I pleaded. They looked at me with fierce eyes._

_"No Akira, you can't. I'm not risking your life for something like this. Stay hidden where they can't find you and when it's safe we'll come back to get you okay." Dad said. I grabbed his arm tight. "I love you." He kissed my forehead and held me close to him. I clung to him with all my strength trying not to cry._

_"Please Dad, don't do this. Don't leave me. I can help you guys." I cried. He held me for a moment more and pulled away. Mom did the same thing as Dad._

_"I love you sweetheart. More than you'll ever know." Together they crept silently down the stairs and carefully approached the intruders. I quickly said a prayer for them. They were going to be just fine. They were retired ninja after all. I very carefully made my way to my room, and grabbed a kunai from one of my desk drawers. Silently I crept from my room, clambered to a nearby linen closet, and left the door only a sliver ajar. I could hear Dad yelling at the people demanding why they were intruding. They answered something about Gato wanting them dead, and they were just ordered to do it. Then there was the clashing of metal against metal, and I heard the sounds of battle. I wanted to go down there and help them, but I couldn't. The fight seemed to go on for forever. I could hear the sounds of grunting and clashing. Suddenly my heart stopped when I heard my Mom scream my Dad's name followed by two loud thumps echoing through the silent house. I bit my lip to cover up my sob. No, they couldn't be dead. They just couldn't be. They were fine and it was all just a dream. If I closed my eyes, maybe it would all just go away. Opening my eyes, I saw that I was still in a linen closet, clutching the knife closer to my chest after I heard my parents being murdered._

_What do I do? How do I get out of here? Before I could figure out what to do I could hear footsteps walking towards the door I was in. I put my hand over my mouth to stifle any noise and slowly moved further into the closet. I was ready for a fight if it had to come down to it. By luck or fate they passed by the door and walked back downstairs. After about ten minutes, I heard them leave. The house was completely silent. I stepped cautiously out of the closet and down the stairs. The smell of blood was so thick in the air, I almost gagged. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two limp bodies laying precariously on the living room floor. Hurriedly, I rushed over to them, unsure what to do._

_"Dad. Wake up." I whispered pushing his bloody shoulder slightly. With no response I pushed harder. "Come on Dad, wake up." Fresh tears were starting to cloud my vision. With each lack of response, my tapping grew more urgent. "Dad, please! Wake up!" It was then that I felt a light brush on my leg by really cold fingertips. I nearly jumped out of my skin and looked at my Mom who was the only other person in the room besides Dad. She moved her fingertips a little again, and I rushed over to where she was._

_"Mom! You're alive?" I cried. I grabbed her hand and held it in mine gently, almost like I was afraid she would disappear if I held it any tighter. She smiled weakly, but it slide off when she coughed._

_"Just barely. I fear that my time is almost near." she rasped. It was so low I had to bend over to hear her. As her words registered with me, I shook my head in disagreement._

_"No, Mom. You're not going to die. I won't let you. I can get help, and you'll be fine." I said fiercely. Mom shook her head no._

_"No, honey. It's to late for me." I was about to retort it, but she stopped me with a look. "Listen to me. I love you very much. Ever since I held you in my arms after you were born, I knew that I would do anything to protect you. Your father felt the same way. I know you're upset, but this was how it was meant to be. It was fate..." she broke off into another gasping cough. She took a deep breath and continued on._

_"Now listen carefully. The man behind this is Gato. He's really powerful in the business world. I guess he must have felt threatened by your father's success because he sent assassins here to murder all of us. He wants to get rid of all of us, so your father's business would crumple. When he gets wind that you're still alive, he will come after you. So you need to run as far away as you can. Get somewhere safe."_

_"Mom..." I started to say. "I don't know if I can do that." She sent me a reassuring smile._

_"You're a strong, smart and beautiful young women... I believe in you..." With that she took her last shuddering breath and her eyes glazed over._

_"No!" I cried._

* * *

Abruptly my eyes flew open in a wild search around the cave. My heart was pounding uncontrollably from fear and deep sadness. I could feel a slight dampness on my cheeks, and it didn't taking long for me to figure out that I was crying. Taking deep breaths, I attempted to calm myself down. Dammit, why did those pick now to show up? It wasn't like I didn't have that same dream before, but as of recently I thought that they went away. Looking towards the front of the cave, I realized that it was light out, which meant that I slept longer than what I intended. I quickly ate an apple from my pack and set off back to my journey.

I was walking around for about an hour or two when I felt like someone was following me again. I sped up until I was full-blown running. The sound of a kunai hitting a tree that was right next to me spurred me to run a lot faster. Every so often I would have to dodge some kunai or shuriken that were a little to close for comfort. Suddenly I heard a loud whizzing sound coming from behind me, on instinct I threw myself to the ground, and thank God I did because on the tree in front of me a huge ass sword embedded into the tree trunk. On it was a very muscular man, with unkempt hair, a mask of bandages covering the lower part of his face, and oddly cow print leg and arm warmers. Immediately I got up, and grabbed a kunai from the pouch on my thigh.

"So you're Akira Kato? You're not much." the man said with a rough voice.

"It depends on who's asking." I stated casually. On the inside I was weary, on guard, and kind of scared, but on the outside I was calm, cool, and collected.

"Gato."

"Funny, I don't think you're Gato. From what I know he's the exact opposite of what you look like. So what's really your name?" I demanded with a small snarl. He laughed sarcastically.

"My name is Zabuza Momochi." he said. On the outside I shrugged, but on the inside I was freaking out. Gato really wants me dead if he hired the Demon of the Hidden Mist. Yeah, I knew who he was. I heard about his reputation and what he did. Crap, he could kill me with a simple swing of his huge ass sword.

"Nope, never heard of you." I lied. Okay I had two options: I could run away and try to delay an inevitable fight or I could just fight him right away. Option one sounds really tempting, but I doubt I could ever get around and away from him. So, I guess I'll have to do option two.

"Don't worry. By the time I'm through with you, you will have." he threatened grabbing his sword and suddenly disappeared. Crap...

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**AN: How did I do? I hope I didn't do to bad. If I did something that was incorrect if you could kindly let me know. Please hit that little button and review! The next chapter will be up shortly. Thanks for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I don't own Naruto, I only own my OC. If I owned Naruto, Zabuza would have never died.**

* * *

Where the hell did he go? I looked around for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. I know he was still out there because why would he introduce himself if he only was going to just vanish. Moving quickly, I back flip out-of-the-way, narrowly missing the downwards strike from his sword. I jumped into the air and threw some shuriken at him, which surprisingly hit him, but Zabuza turned into a puddle of water.

A water clone! Shit, where's the real one then? I felt someone behind me so I performed a quick substitution jutsu, and hid somewhere in the trees masking my chakra. I need to think, and come up with some type of plan fast. I knew he was just toying with me. He could have killed me in a heartbeat if he wanted to. I need to think. Maybe If I distract him and I could try to get the upper hand. I quickly performed hand seals for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and after a smoky small pop, there in front of me was five exact clones of me.

"Hiya, Boss. What's up?" one asked with a smile.

"Yeah. What do you need?" Another asked a little more quietly. I looked at them all with a serious face and they soon got quiet.

"I'm in a bit of a situation here. There's a big bad assassin with a giant sword that wants to kill me, and I need you guys for backup or as some type of distraction. Maybe if you guys get him away from his sword long enough I might have a greater chance of beating him." I stated firmly. I looked at each one of them and they nodded in agreement. Feeling a familiar chakra prescense behind me, I turned and saw that Zabuza was standing causally in the middle of the clearing.

All of us leaped out of the tree and ran towards him. Four of the clones went for him with their fists, while me and a fifth one stayed a little back. I nodded at her and she smirked back.

"Fire Style: Fiery Phoenix Jutsu!" We shouted after performing a series of quick hand signs. Large flames in the shape of a huge fiery phoenix flew from our clasped hands. The two birds joined together and flew in a twisted dance to where Zabuza was. I was really hoping that this time I had managed to get him. Naive, I know. The fire extinguished after a few seconds and instead of seeing a charred and mangled body there was absolutely nothing in front of me. I scowled in anger.

"Where did he go now?" I thought. Suddenly, the clone that was to my left disappeared in a cloud of smoke. I could see Zabuza and his sword faintly through the haze. Quickly, I twisted my body to the right, narrowly avoiding the sword crashing down to where I was before. Using the momentum, I grabbed the hilt of the sword and I turned away and gave him powerful kick filled with chakra to the jaw. That managed to push him away from his sword, which was exactly what I was hoping for. My hands flew into another series of hand signs.

"Earth Style: Earth Prison Jutsu." Slamming my hand down, palm downwards into the ground causing a dozen earth columns to spring out of the ground and surround the sword encasing it in a medium earth cage. Breathing deeply I pushed myself off the ground and pulled out a kunai out of my pouch.

"Well you managed to separate me and the Kubikiribōchō. I'm a little impressed." Zabuza said as he got up and brushed dirt off his shoulder. I scoffed at this.

"You got to admit you're more than just a little impressed. You're pretty impressed. I mean you probably thought I wasn't going to last this long. Well, I guess I surprised you." I taunted as I gripped the knife tighter. He chuckled darkly.

"You humor me." he laughed mockingly. I scowled and ran towards him in anger. He picked out a kunai lazily out of his pocket and as I got closer I could see him smirking. Our kunais clashed with a ring and I threw my arm out in a punch. Zabuza easily caught it and threw me backwards. I would've hit the ground really hard, but at the last moment I sprang into a backflip. This guy was really getting on my last nerve. Not giving up, I ran at him again and managed to get a swipe in with her kunai, before we were in an intense battle of dodging, punching, and kicking. It was like a deadly dance. A wrong move could have been your last, probably my own. Somehow he managed to knock me off of my feet, grabbed my throat in a type vice like grip, and threw me hard on the ground.

"Well, looks like I got you pinned." he taunted as he held on tightly to my neck. I started to claw fiercely at his hands in attempt to try and get him to stop cutting off my air supply. I started gasping for breath and thrashing around, any way to get out of his chokehold. My vision was starting to blur and I had to do something fast. I knew it was a cheap move but I had to do it, so I swiftly moved my leg and kicked him where the sun don't shine. Immediatley he went down and I was able to escape his choke hold. Taking in greedy deep breaths I took the opportunity to run over, grab my bag, and hightail it out of there. I could hear him scrambling to get up, and I knew I had to kick it into high gear. I was almost out of there to, when I felt a searing and pricking sensation fill my body, especially in my neck.

Clutching my neck, I fell to the ground and saw black. I'm pretty sure the last thing I saw was a pretty pissed off Zabuza, glaring at me with this intensely hateful stare.

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**AN: So, this is the first time I have ever written a fight scene, so it probably sucks. I'll try to get better at it. Please review and stay tuned...**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I don't own Naruto, I only own my OC. If I owned Naruto, Zabuza would have never died.**

* * *

A comforting but irritating warmth fanned across my face caused me to open my weary eyes. I blinked once and then twice to clear the sleep from my eyes. My body felt worn down, but it also felt slightly refreshed from the sleep I had gotten. And the bed that I was in was comfortable. It was so comfortable that I actually contemplated going back to sleep. But then it hit dawned on me. If the last place I remember being was on a forest floor after being attacked by a highly trained assassin, how did I end up in a comfortable bed? Immediately I sprang up in alarm, and finally took in my surroundings. It looked like I was in a decent sized room that had a bed, dresser, and a closet. My bag was right on top of the dresser.

The fact that I was in an unknown place kept repeating itself over and over in my head. I knew I had to get out of here or at least see if this was a safe place to be. If it wasn't, I would probably have to try to fight my way out of here, and I wasn't sure my body would be able to handle that at this moment. It was still sore, and I was still pretty tired, both mentally and physically. Despite that, if it came down to it I would try to fight my way out of it or fie trying.

I threw the plush covers off of my body and turned so my legs were on the side of the bed. I finally took the time to see what I was wearing. I had on a black tank top with a pair of neon blue short shorts. This led me to wonder who changed me, and if the person who did the changing was a pervert, because if so, I was going to be pissed. Looking around for a pair of shoes, I luckily spotted a pair of sandals near the foot of the bed. Slipping them on I headed to the door and quietly crept down the long hallway. I had to be careful not to make a noise for fear of being caught. It seemed that luck was on my side because I didn't run into anyone...yet. Although as soon as I thought that, what do you know? I did. I jumped back before they could grab me. I was just about to turn and run, when I heard...

"Wait! Please...I don't mean you any harm." The person pleaded calmly. I turned around to face them, but I was on edge. If I felt an inkling of trouble I was gone, and no one was going to stop me. I took a moment to study the person in front of me. It was a young teen who had long dark hair, and was wearing a pink kimono. He had feminine features to him, but I could tell he was a boy.

"Who are you?" I questioned cautiously. The boy smiled gently and warmly. I was a little put off by this, but I stayed there warily. The boy seemed to take that as a good sign because his smile broadened some. He looked harmless, but I had to be on full alert.

"Forgive me for not coming to see you earlier and introducing myself. My name is Haku. I've been taking care of you for the past few days." Haku said. "May I ask what is your name?"

"Akira." I answered simply. I didn't give him my last name because I didn't trust him enough, plus he didn't give his so why should I give mine? "How did I get here?"

"I found you in the forest injured and unconscious while I was looking for some herbs. I placed you in an extra room and tended to your wounds. You had a fever for part of the time and I used some medicine to hep bring it down. You were asleep for most of the time. That was about three days ago." I sighed in relief at his little speech, but the thought of who changed me flashed again in my head.

"So who's the one that changed me?" I questioned calmly. My eye started to twitch slightly. I so have an idea as of who did it, I just want it confirmed. Haku blushed heavily and looked down sheepishly.

"I was. I needed to tend to the wounds you had on your abdomen and your clothes were dirty. I promise I didn't look." he answered nervously. I almost wanted to give the kid a hug because of the look on his face. I knew this kid couldn't be a pervert, he honestly looked to innocent, but looks could be deceiving. Nah, I doubt he's a pervert.

"...Akira, are you feeling alright?" Haku questioned, his voice full of concern. I snapped out of my inner rant and stared at him dumbly.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked. Haku was still looking at me with a concerned face.

"You were staring into space and you had this intense stare on your face. " Haku explained. I bit my lip in embarrassment and in shame at my previous thoughts. This kid was like the angel of innocence and pureness and stuff.

"I'm sorry I was thinking about something." I apologized. He smiled warmly in response.

"You must be hungry. I was just making lunch when you walked in." At this statement I took a big whiff of the air and my mouth literally watered up in response. It smelled like curry rice and I literally wanted to float in the air and follow the delicious aroma. I think Haku saw the hungry look on my face because he chuckled. "Lets get you something to eat. Here I'll take you to the kitchen."

Haku turned around and walked down the hallway. I followed him anxiously waiting for the food. Times like these made me think that I was a fat girl at heart. Oh well, it's not like I care. I'm pretty sure I could gain a couple of pounds since I haven't had a decent meal in a long time. It wasn't long before we reached the decent sized kitchen.

"Sit down, I'll get you a bowl." Haku said gesturing to the table that was right beside me. Not disputing what he suggested, I slid back a chair and slipped into the seat. I folded my arms and laid my head on top of them. Even though I was asleep for a pretty lengthy period, my body was still tired. I must have fell asleep because the thud of a bowl being placed on the table woke me up. I lifted my head and let out a soft groan. Looking at the bowl licked my lips in hunger. Sending Haku a grateful smile, I took a pair of chopsticks and dug in, and let me tell you, this boy can definitely cook.

"So, do you live here by yourself?" I asked after taking a few bites. Haku looked up from his own bowl and shook his head.

"I live here with my boss." He answered simply. Hm, that's really nice of his boss to let him stay here.

"That's really sweet of him." I voiced after taking another bite of curry. "Haku, this is really good." A light blush coated the young boy's cheeks.

"Thank you." He said. He went back to his own bowl and it was silent, but it wasn't an awkward silence. It was more of a comfortable silence. I didn't mind Haku's company. He was actually a very nice and kind person. I get this feeling that he would rarely utter a bad word about someone.

"So tell me, how did you end up alone and injured in the forest?" Haku asked, breaking the silence. I didn't want to lie to him, but I didn't want to scare him by saying some guy wanted me dead with a passion.

"I was going to visit a family friend who lives in the Land of Fire. It was a long trip considering I come from the Land of Opal. To get there, I had to cut through the forest. I knew it was dangerous, to go by myself considering the fact I have bad luck. Anyway, I guess to prove that point, I was attacked by a couple of robbers. I got a couple of good hits in, but as you see, so did they. Then I guess you found me." I lied. I felt kind of bad for lying to him, but it was probably for his own good.

"What about your family? I bet they're worried about you." Haku,asked. I felt a wave of sorrow wash over me at the thought of my family.

"My parents died not to long ago, so my family isn't an issue. It's the main reason I set off to the Land of Fire." I answered with a sad smile. Haku had an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Know?" I interrupted. "It's fine. It's not like I expected you to. We just met."

"Still. I know what you're going through. I lost my parents when I was younger. I was an orphan until my boss took me in."

"That was sweet of him." I stated with a soft smile. I was actually eager to meet this mysterious boss of his. He had to be really nice man, if he took in a young kid who lost his parent.

"Where is this boss of yours? He sounds like a really nice person, and I want to thank him for his hospitality."

"He's away on a business trip. He'll be back at the end of the week." Haku answered.

We spent the rest of the dinner talking and learning some more about each other. What our likes and dislikes are. I quickly considered Haku a friend,despite the age difference between us. With his suggestion, he said I should stay for a week or two. I tried to protest, but who knew that the feminine looking teen could be pretty stubborn and bossy. Not wanting to upset him, I agreed. It didn't hurt that he offered to take me out to a nearby village to go shopping for new clothes. I didn't even bother to protest this time, because I knew Haku wouldn't take no for an answer.

Eventually I excused myself and headed to bed. Haku manged to find me a new and clean toothbrush so I could brush my teeth. After thanking him and brushing my teeth, I crawled tiredly into bed. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow. The next morning I woke up to a light rapping at my door. Groggily, I slipped out of bed and walked over to answer it. I opened the door and saw Haku standing there with a cheerful smile.

Blinking slowly, I let a small smile spread across my lips. "Good morning."

"Good morning. I'm sorry I woke you up, but if we're going to go shopping, we should leave in about an hour because the village is far." Haku explained. Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that. He gave me directions on where to find clean towels if I wanted to take a shower, which I desperately needed. With a promise and a grin, I headed to the bathroom for a long-awaited steamy shower.

In the shower I let the hot water clear away day old grime, and allowed some thoughts to surface. I wonder what Gato was doing now? Was he planning for another assassination attempt or did he already think I was dead? Maybe he never found out I somehow manage to escape, and thought I was already dead. That Zabuza had finished his job. Honestly, I hoped that the latter was true. Back to the masked missing nin. Why didn't he kill me when he had the chance, and why did he leave me in the middle if the forest? But I was glad for whatever it was because it led me to safety. Haku was like an angel, so nice, kind, and pure. He didn't even know me, but he took care of me, and treated me like a friend.

By the time I stepped out of the shower, my hands and toes resembled raisins. Rubbing away the condensation from the mirror, I took a good look at myself. I looked disheveled and I didn't like it, at all. Setting out to work, I tamed my hair with a brush and brushed teeth. I didn't out any makeup on because there wasn't any need to. It was only me and Haku. After wrapping a towel around me, I scurried to my room, and slipped on a pair of shorts and an over sized t-shirt. Walking to the kitchen, I saw Haku eating what looked like to be a bowl of cereal. Grabbing a bowl that was left out on the counter, I poured myself a bowl of sugary goodness, and sat across from Haku.

About an hour later, we left for the village, which was a pretty long journey, but it felt good to be out and feel kind of normal again. When we arrived upon the small market place, we headed to the food vendors first since Haku needed some groceries. After that we headed to a nearby clothing store, that left me amazed at the quality and beauty of the clothes. They varied from an earthly rich color to a vibrant neon blue. One dress though caught my eye. It was a white sundress that looked to be tight in the front, but fell in silky waves towards the bottom. Walking over to it, I gently and gingerly fingered the dress.

"Hello, can I help you?" a voice asked breaking me out of my daze. Embarrassed, I turned to face a woman who was middle-aged, with her hair in a loose bun at the nape of her neck, and had kind and warm brown eyes.

"Oh, I was just looking at this dress. It's beautiful." I said. The woman smiled largely.

"Thank you, I made it myself." My eyes widened slightly in shock.

"You made this yourself?" I questioned in slight awe. The woman nodded.

"Yes. Most of the clothes that are in here I made myself. My name's Satomi, I own this shop." Satomi explained.

"My name's Akira, and that's my friend Haku. It's very nice to meet you." I said bowing my head slightly in respect. "I was just looking for some new clothes. At the moment I'm pretty low on them."

"Well, you have come to the right place." she stated. "Why don't you look around and if you need any help just holler." she suggested. I smiled and nodded signalling that it was a good idea. I picked out some clothes, and tried them on with the help of Satomi, who turned out to be a really nice woman. I actually had fun shopping with her and Haku. In the end I bought some t-shirts, a new pair of pajamas(which consisted of a pair of pants when it was cold and shorts for when it was hot), two kimonos, shorts, undergarments, and at her insistence the white dress Satomi made.

"Now, you better come back soon!" Satomi ordered as I was leaving the store. I chuckled softly.

"I will, don't worry." I promised with a friendly wave. As I walked out of the store, I realized with a smile that this was the most normal and care free thing I have done since my parents died.

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**AN: So here's chapter three. I hoped you liked it. Review! Thanks for reading :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I don't own Naruto, I only own my OC. If I owned Naruto, Zabuza would have never died.**

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It was nearing the end of the week and I was having such a good time staying with Haku. He was such a nice kid with a gentle nature, and was on his in becoming a really good friend of mine despite our almost ten-year age difference. He was kind of like a little brother to me. I had always wished I had a sibling, but alas I was never graced with one. We would stay up late talking about what interested us, watch movies together, take turns cooking, or taking a walk in the forest. I knew it was going to really upset me when it was time for me to leave. Today I was going visit Satomi, while Haku was out looking for herbs in the forest. I had promised her that I would visit her again, and I was not to break it.

The jingling of bells signaled my arrival. "Hello!" I called out upon entering. Satomi looked up from her sewing machine. A surprise smile broke out on her face.

"Akira, what a pleasant surprise." she said moving around the machine to give me a hug. I returned it just as willingly, happy that the woman really wanted me here. I pulled away slightly.

"I promised you, didn't I?"I teased lightly. Satomi swatted my arm playfully.

"Come in, come in. I was just working on this dress I was making. Want to take a look at it?" she questioned. I nodded my head eagerly, and walked over to the sewing machine. From where I was standing, the dress looked to be of an orange color that reminded me of the color of a sunset.

"I've been working on it for a few days, and I'm not sure if I should make it strapless or not? What do you think?" she asked looking at me expectantly. I furrowed my brows in deep thought.

"Hmm, either way I'm pretty sure the dress would be beautiful. Personally, I think it would look great strapless."

Satomi hummed in agreement. "I think you're right." She took some pieces of material and cut two evenly made strips from them. Then she got to work attaching them to the dress. I sat down on a chair that was nearby the sewing station. I just sat there studying the care and precision, Satomi, put into each part she did.

"How long have you owned this shop?" I asked breaking the silence. Satomi looked up from what she was doing.

"Probably for around twenty-five years. It was my mother's, and since I loved anything involving fashion I just took over the family business." she replied with a thoughtful look on her face. "How about you? What brought you here, dear? Pardon the rhyme." I giggled at that.

"Well...I was on my way to visit an old family friend in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, when I was kind of attacked." Satomi looked shocked at this, "But, I'm okay now. Haku found me, took me in, cared me back to health, and offered me a place to stay until I'm ready to leave."

"That was nice of him." she remarked. "Do your parents know what happened?" I couldn't help but lower my gaze when she mentioned my parents. Their deaths were still fresh in my mind. Satomi, must have noticed this because she started to apologize.

"It's okay. They um...died, not to long ago. That was the catalyst that caused me to leave." I explained telling half of the truth. Even though I was avoiding her gaze, I could still feel the look of sympathy she gave me. I decided to change the subject. "You, uh, want me to help you with anything?"

"Could you take some clothes that are in boxes over there and put them on the racks located near the side wall?" she questioned, glad for the change of subject. I nodded my head gladly for a distraction and set to work. The task wasn't that hard and it took me no time to finish it. Then, I went around cleaning some of the dust off of the displays. It didn't really bother me because Satomi had been nothing but kind to me since the moment I met her.

It was about three o' clock when I decided I should start heading back. Before leaving, I promised Satomi that I would visit her sometime. I liked Satomi. She was very friendly and had a motherly feel to her that was a form of comfort to me. It somehow reminded me of my mother. After making the hour and a half trek home I was greeted by the smell of delicious food wafting in from the kitchen. I found myself walking towards it, not surprised to see Haku standing in front of the stove.

"Smells absolutely delicious, like always." I said announcing my presence to the intently focused teen. He turned and offered a smile over his shoulder.

"Dinner should be done in a few more minutes." he stated as he stirred whatever was in the pot. I hummed in acceptance.

"I'll set the table." I said as I grabbed us some bowls and utensils. We each filled our bowls with some shio ramen and started to chow down on the delicious meal. I have to admit, Haku sure is skilled in the kitchen. I could feel myself gaining weight from his sinfully delicious meals, which I actually didn't mind because it was putting back on the weight I had previously lost when I was on the run. After dinner we fell into our routine of washing and drying dishes. Then we went our separate ways. I took a nice relaxing shower and settled down on my bed with a book. I opened the book to where it was bookmarked and started to read, but I found myself not being able to concentrate. I was trying hard to pay attention to what I was reading, but I was to tired. No, I have to know what happens. I need to know who she ends up with. Pushing past my sleepiness, I trudged on reading.

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I woke up with a start. Something heavy fell off my face and landed in my lap. Looking down, I saw that it was the book I was attempting to read last night. Bookmarking the page I was on, I tossed it carefully on the far right corner of the bed spread. I threw my arms in the air trying to loosen the stiff muscles that were bothering me. Groaning in satisfaction, I threw my legs over the side of my bed and stepped softly on the floor. I made my way over to my closet and grabbed a pair of black sweatpants and a pink tank top. I quickly changed into those and headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth. On the way from the bathroom I was stopped by Haku.

"Oh, hey Haku. What's up?" I asked.

"I was looking for you. My boss wanted to see you." he replied. My face brightened. I was a little excited. I could finally meet the man who allowed me to stay here and thank him for his hospitality.

"Well, lead the way my friend." Haku turned around and walked down the hall. We kept walking until we came upon a door that was a little larger than the other ones in that were in the house. Haku knocked on the door and opened it when he heard a faint "come in". I took about two steps into the room before I froze in place.

"No." I whispered in horror. It couldn't be him. This has to be some twisted nightmare. There in front of me was Zabuza lounging casually on a large purple couch placed in the middle of the large room, his trademark sword was leaning right next to him. Why was he here?

"Akira, so nice of you to join me." Zabuza said with a smug smirk on his face. How I wish I could punch it right off of his face, then set it on fire and stomp on it, only to set it on fire again. My eyes flew to Haku, who was standing not to far from me.

"Haku, what's going on?" I asked fiercely. Haku met my gaze head on. From his stance, you could see that he was calm and stiff, but if you looked into his eyes you could see guilt swimming in them.

"I serve Zabuza as being his tool. It was my job this week to watch you and make sure you didn't escape." he explained in a monotone voice. I scowled at him.

"So, everything you did was under the pretense of you just being my guard dog and making sure I didn't try to leave?" I probed with betrayal clear in my voice. Was he ever really my friend or was it all a façade so I would stay where I was at?

"Obviously, and it worked perfectly to." Zabuza answered, not giving the boy a chance to answer. I glared at him heatedly.

"I wasn't asking you, I was talking to him." I spat. Zabuza stared angrily at me, and as fast as lightning moved his sword to where it was directly under my chin, completely halting any attempt of mine to move. A quiet gasp of fear and surprise flew from my mouth.

"If I were you, I would watch that tongue of yours, it might land you killed. " he growled, pressing the point deeper into my neck. I gulped, but tried to appear unaffected. Although, I'm pretty sure he could see through my little tough girl act.

"Which leads me to my next question. What am I still doing alive? There has to be a reason that you went against Gato's orders and kept me alive."

"Hmm, you're smarter than you look." cue pissed off glare here, "I guess you can call me selfish. If I see something I want, I take it. Your death would have been a waste. You have skills that I could have used."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked confused. Zabuza just rolled his eyes annoyed. If anyone had the right to be annoyed it was me. This guy was really pissing me off. Maybe it's his attitude. No, wait. There's no question about it, it's his attitude.

"I'm giving you a choice here. Either you work for me, using your skills for whatever I want, or I'll kill you collecting my pay from Gato for completing the job."Zabuza offered as he moved his sword away from my chin. Internally, I let out a breath of relief. Why does he even have a sword that big anyway? Show off.

"I have no choice at all really. It's either work for you or die." I said full of bitterness. This completely sucked. It's either work for the guy who tried to assassinate me or die, and it would most likely be painful. This guy looks like he could be a sadist. If I die, the attempts of my parents trying to save me would have been in vain, and I am not going to let Gato think he succeeded in killing me. It seemed like I had no other option.

"I'll work for you." I managed to choke out. Zabuza smirked at my discomfort. I would probably regret this decision.

"Smart move." he said mockingly. I clenched my fists in frustration.

"Are we done here?" I asked through clenched teeth. Zabuza nodded and shifted his gaze to Haku.

"Haku, take her back to her room." He ordered.

"Yes Zabuza." Haku said grabbing me by the arm and leading the way out. I sent Zabuza one last glare and let Haku lead me away.

"This whole time you were just pretending to be my friend." I said breaking the uncomfortable silence we were in. I was met with more no response. I scoffed. "I hope losing a friend for him was worth it."

Nothing else was said between us after that. I was happy when we arrived to my room so I could escape from everything that was going on. I closed the door on Haku not even uttering some form of goodbye. Pressing my back against the door, I slid numbly to the floor. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. Furiously, I wiped them away.

"Great. I lost a friend and I made a deal with the devil. " I muttered angrily, and this time I didn't stop the tears that wanted to fall.

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**AN: So here's chapter four. Not really sure yet if I'm happy with how it came out or not, but I'll post it anyway. Thanks for sticking with the story up to this point. I really really appreciate it. I'm still new at this whole writing and posting thing so please cut me some slack. I also want to thank vouvezsoir for reviewing those past chapters! I appreciate and thank you. Remember to read and review. That would be most helpful. Chapter five should be up shortly. Thanks for reading! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I don't own Naruto, I only own my OC, Akira.**

**Sorry this was updated later than what I initially intended, but I ended up catching up with my best friend since school let out for the summer. So please forgive me and on to the story!**

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The next morning I woke up just mentally and a little emotionally exhausted. It seemed like my head was still trying to process what happened yesterday. If this is what fate had in store for me, it sucked. A lot. This wasn't what I had planned for my life, and frankly I was hating every minute of it. I wanted to get married, have kids, grow old, live long enough to see my grandchildren, and then die peacefully in my sleep. Instead, my parents were murdered, I had to go on the freaking run to get away from a guy who wants me dead for no real reason, and a psychotic S ranked criminal wanted to use me. Yup, life doesn't get any better than that (sarcasm was totally intended in that line). But I wasn't going to let Zabuza see me sweat. I was going to put on my big girl pants and don a brave face, even though I really wanted to kick and scream.

Getting out of bed, I sauntered over to my closet and picked out a purple tank top and black Spandex short shorts. I laid those out on my bed, and left my room to take a shower. For some reason, a hot steamy shower always seemed to calm me down and soothe my troubles even if it was just for the moment. After drying my wet hair with a towel, I wrapped another around my body, and stepped out the bathroom only to walk into something rock solid. Letting out a grunt of pain, I looked up confused at what I possibly bumped into.

"What the hell." I mumbled annoyed as I rubbed my slightly throbbing forehead. Looking up, I was shocked at what I saw. "Zabuza, what do you want?" I asked with a scowl. Zabuza's eyes just scanned my body up and down, causing me to clutch the towel tighter to me. I was a little ticked off, but I could feel myself starting to blush.

"I just wanted to tell you that you'll start training in an hour." he answered with a smirk. I felt my left eye twitch.

"So, you waited outside the door knowing you would scare me, just to tell me that I'm going to train in an hour. Alright, this conversation is over. If you could please move out of my way." I said as I tried to slide past him, only to have my body brush against his. A shiver went down my spine, but I ignored it. I was almost past him, when his rough hand grasped my upper arm tightly and pulled my body into his. I gasped at the contact.

"Feisty, but maybe you should learn to watch your mouth." he said roughly. The corner of my mouth moved up in a small smirk. I could have some fun with this. Moving to where I was standing on my tip toes, I gently moved my hands up his chest , and placed my mouth near his ear.

"If I were you, I would remove your hands from my body or face your "little friend" meeting my knee." I whispered seductively. Slowly, Zabuza took his hands from me all the while leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake. I'm gonna chalk that to the fact that I was basically in a towel. I stepped away from him, and started to walk away, but I paused mid stride and looked over my shoulder. "Oh, and I'll take your little warning into consideration, but no promises." and with that I went back to my room.

After changing into the fresh pair of clothes I laid out, I walked to the kitchen to see Haku eating an apple. I ignored him and grabbed an apple for myself from the bowl. I poured myself a glass of water and settled myself across from Haku. Needless to say, it was awkward and silent. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of us taking a bite from our apples.

"I can understand now why you did what you did. Thinking about it now." I said breaking the silence.

"I'm truly sorry." He said looking down at his hands. I reached over and grasped his hand.

"I know you are." I said, "I can see it in your eyes. You're guilty or either a very good liar."

"You were the first friend I have ever had. " Haku told me, a soft smile was gracing his face. I returned it with a small one. I couldn't help but forgive Haku. He was sweet and he was just following his orders.

"Well, I'm glad I got to be your first."

It wasn't to long after that, when Zabuza came to announce that it was time to start training. I couldn't help but let out a groan at that statement. I found myself standing in front of the house stretching, trying to loosen my muscles. After about doing that for ten minutes I was ready to face the inevitable.

"Alright, what's on the agenda for today?" I asked the man standing a few feet from me.

"You're going to fight me, hand to hand. Frankly, you're terrible at it."

I couldn't help but shoot him a glare.

"I may be "terrible", but it seems I was good enough to not get killed by you." I countered back.

We each took a defensive stand, and were waiting for one of us to make the first move. Honestly, I didn't want to make it, but I'm pretty sure he was waiting for me to make it. With a burst of speed, I ran towards him and threw a chakra filled punch, aiming for his head, only to have him grab my fist and push me back with immense strength. Flying back, I bent backwards and flipped into a back flip. Without a thought, I ran back at him but at the last-minute I kicked him in the side, but he grabbed my thigh, using the momentum I twisted around and kicked him powerfully in the chest. He moved back some, but it was enough for me. Zabuza dropped me and I ended up landing awkwardly on my feet. I couldn't help but pant desperately for air.

"Tired, yet?" Zabuza asked mockingly. I smirked a little at his comment.

"I'm just getting started."

It seemed like we had a telepathic link because we ran at each other and I was suddenly engaged in one of the most intense fights I have ever been in. It was like he could read and block every move I made. If I threw a punch hoping to hurt him, he pushed it aside easily, almost like it was a rag doll. I'm pretty sure that my body would be sore and bruised tomorrow from the hits that landed on my body. I dropped down to a low crouch, and swept my leg at his only to have him jump out-of-the-way. I straightened back up to see where he was, but at that moment an unexpected roundhouse kick sent me flying face first to the ground. I tried to push myself up, but I was stopped by a foot on my back and my arms pinned tightly behind me. I started to twist and struggle on the ground in a vain attempt to get free, but I knew I was done. He had won again. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Zabuza crouching down beside me with a stupid smirk on his face.

"If this was a real fight, you would have been dead. Pathetic." he said, his deep voice was tinged with slight disgust and scorn. I couldn't help but scowl at him, his word hurting me deeply. I knew it wasn't enough to beat a S- ranked ninja, but he didn't have to say it like that. Truthfully, I lasted longer than I thought I would. The pressure he had on my body disappeared and I took the that as a sign that I could get up. Pushing myself off the ground, I rubbed off the dirt that was on my clothes, and examined a cut that I didn't know that I had gotten on my leg.

"Tomorrow, you'll train again." Zabuza announced. I stared at him in slight disbelief.

"But we just had an intense one today." I protested. The mocking smirk was back and the disgusted look was back on his face.

"I knew you were weak and pathetic, but I didn't think you were that bad." My face burned at what he said. How dare he. I'm not a ninja like him, and I never really had to fight like this before. I wanted to say something, but I bit back a retort.

"Fine." I snapped, and I started to walk back to the house. I went to the kitchen and decided to fix myself a sandwich, my stomach was growling like crazy. After I ate, I took a nice long shower, and cleaned up some of the scrapes and cuts I got in the fight. For the rest of the afternoon, I spent it reading my book and sketching random things. When, it was time for dinner I went to the kitchen to see that Zabuza was already there. I spared him a glance, but I turned away when I already saw him looking at me.

"Dinner smells really good." I directed at Haku. Said person turned his head to face me, and gave me a smile in return. I grabbed a plate and loaded it up with some vegetables and rice. I sat across from Zabuza and wondered how he was going to eat since he had a mask on his face. Maybe he would unravel it, but that left me in curiosity. Would he take off his mask? And what did he look like underneath it? Was he ugly with buck teeth? Or was he really handsome? I picked up a chopstick and took a bite of my food, but I was waiting in complete anticipation.

He took the plate Haku handed him, and started to unwrap his bandages. I was mentally bouncing in anticipation, and I think Zabuza sensed it because he looked me directly in the eye and chuckled. When he unwrapped it all the way I was shocked. He was probably the most handsome man I had ever seen in my life. He had a chiseled jaw, a perfectly straight nose, and absolutely kissable lips. When he opened his mouth to eat, I was surprised at what I saw. His teeth were sharp and pointy, although for some reason they suited him. Is it weird that I thought they were attractive? Yeah I'm weird. He looked up and caught me staring. I immediately looked down and I could feel the blush that was spreading across my cheeks.

The rest of dinner went without any other incident, and I helped Haku with the dishes. I went back to my room and flopped on to my bed only to instantly regret it afterwards. The bruises I landed on flared in protest, and I couldn't help but groan at the pain. I closed my eyes, and couldn't help thinking that I was in complete hell.

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**So, I hope this chapter was okay. I'm not really happy with how I ended it and how the fight scene went (I'm still new and awkward at them). Hopefully, chapter 6 will be up within the week. Please review and thanks for reading! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I don't own Naruto. I only own Akira and Satomi.**

**I want to say thank you to everyone who has read my story and who left reviews like vouvezsoir and Mistress Persephone. They are greatly appreciated. And to vouvezsoir, I'm not really sure why it wouldn't let you review, but I hope it doesn't act up like that in the future, and yes I did gather inspiration from that episode where they try to uncover Kakashi's real face. **

**Anyway on to the story!**

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The next day, I found myself training again. It was probably more intense than yesterday's, which was saying something. Currently, I was twisting in mid-air trying to aim an ax kick at Zabuza's head. He blocked it with his forearms, causing me to land on my feet. Quickly, I kicked at him with my right foot, turned my body around and aimed at him again with my right foot. All the while, he was just leaning back and blocking when he needed to. Zabuza then offered his on punches making me attempt to block them with rapid succession. His punches were so strong that some actually hit me harshly in my upper body and face. I kicked my leg up to block an oncoming punch, but he suddenly grabbed that and turned and threw me in front of him. A gasp of surprise left my mouth, and I slid across the ground. Back flipping, I narrowly avoided an ax kick that was aimed for where I just was. Then came the to fast for me to keep up punches and kicks again. It was like wave after wave, and I was exhausted. I sloppily tried to defend myself against them, but my moves were to sluggish and slow. All it took was a hard knee to the stomach and I was down. I could feel a little blood trickle from my mouth. Grabbing my stomach, I tried to stop the harsh coughs that were coming out of my mouth.

"I'm impressed. You lasted longer than you did yesterday." Zabuza said crossing his arms across his muscular chest. I looked up at him in surprise at his compliment.

"Thank-"

"But, you still would've been dead if this was a real fight." he interrupted, and there's the jerkiness. Why am I not surprised? I doubt he could ever give a sincere compliment. I shakily got to my feet, with my left arm wrapped tightly around my middle.

"Thanks." I said sarcastically, "Are we finished here yet? I promised Haku I would go with him to the market."

"You're dismissed." he scoffed. I just shook my head and headed back to the house.

I took a shower and slipped on a blue cotton sun dress I bought from Satomi not to long ago. I went to Haku's room which was down the hall and knocked vociferously on his door. It didn't take long for Haku to open it, silencing my knocks.

I smiled at him, "Hey Haku. Ready to go?" I asked, leaning into the doorway.

Haku smiled back, "Sure, let me just get my basket."

I could see Haku go over to his closet, and start rummaging around in it. He moved back out and had his basket grasped in his hand. Turning off the light in his room, he came out of the room and turned to look at me.

"Now, we can go."

We sauntered out of the house and started our little journey. The chirping of the birds and the cool breeze flowing through the trees put me into a peaceful mood. It was great to get out of the house and away from all that training stuff. I threw my hands in the air and twirled around carelessly. A soft smile was now on my face.

"Isn't it just beautiful out Haku? Fresh air in your face, and the breeze just cooling you down." A fallen tree branch was in my path and I couldn't help but leap on to, throwing my arms to the side of me and just pretend I was an acrobat on a tight rope.

Haku laughed at my antics. "It is. How's training going?"

I groaned loudly and ceased my movements. "Haku, you totally just ruined my mood." I whined crossing my arms like a petulant child.

Haku covered his mouth with his free hand, although I could still tell he was laughing. "I'm sorry Akira. I was just inquiring. I didn't get to ask you yet and I was simply curious."

I sighed, "It's tiresome and it sucks." I jumped off of the log. I walked back over to where Haku was and looked up at the trees. "It's probably the most intense workout/training I have ever had. Nothing I do is good enough for him and he just looks at me unimpressed every time we're done. It's annoying and it pisses me off." I ranted with a deep frown.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Haku nodding his head in what looked like understanding. "I understand completely where you're coming from. It was the same for me when Zabuza first took me in. I never experienced anything like that before. I was just a little kid, and there were times where I doubted myself, but what kept me going was that I wanted to be the tool that Zabuza wanted me to be."

I looked at him strangely. "Why would you become a tool for him? I don't understand it." This was something that had bothered me when I found out that Haku was basically Zabuza's tool that could be used selfishly and discarded without a care.

Haku just gave me a closed eye smile. "Have you ever loved or cared about someone?" he asked suddenly. I nodded at him dumbly.

"When you love someone and truly care for them you would do anything to protect them, even if it meant risking your own life. You become stronger when you have someone you want to protect. Their dreams become yours and you would do anything to see that they would come true. Before I meet Zabuza, I felt useless and not wanted. But when he saw me, he offered me something."

"What was it?" I found myself asking. He opened his eyes and looked at me right in the eyes.

"A purpose." he answered simply. A fond smile was on his face now. "He gave me a purpose and made me feel useful. Like someone wanted and needed me. That's all I could ever hope for."

I was stumped, and suddenly I understood Haku more. It didn't matter to him, if Zabuza just saw him as a tool and nothing more. That didn't matter at all to Haku. He was perfectly happy that someone finally wanted him and that person finally gave him a purpose in life. It shocked me and left me in deep awe and admiration with Haku's selfishness. He truly was pure and white, like the snow that fell on a winter's day.

"I understand now, Haku. I only wish that one day I could have the selfishness you have."

The rest of the trip was spent in silence and when we arrived at the town square, we promised to meet back with each other in two hours. After parting ways with Haku, I set off for Satomi's shop.

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Satomi was presently struggling to carry a pile of clothes to a rack. Stepping all the way into the room, I rushed over to Satomi's side and grabbed half of the clothes that were in her arms and transported them into my own. I could feel her jump in surprise, but she peeked over the clothes and a smile light up her face.

"Akira! How are you sweetie?"

I smiled at the term of endearment. "I'm good. I was in town and decided to pay my favorite shop owner a visit."

We walked over to the ranked and started to hang the shirts up according to size, putting the smalls first and the rest following it. It didn't take long since there was two of us.

"Thank you so much. You do not know how much of a life saver you are. My bones aren't what they used to be." Satomi said when we were finished.

I faked a scoff. "Satomi, you don't look a day over thirty-five." I teased, jerking away before she could hit my arm. I just laughed.

"I made muffins earlier. They should still be on the front counter."

With a happy smile, I skipped over to the delicious plate of muffins that were waiting for me. My mouth was watering at the idea of just biting into one. I was pretty hungry since I didn't get the chance to eat anything before we left. Scanning the plate, I instantly grabbed a chocolate chip one that was literally calling my name. I eagerly unwrapped the paper and took a huge bite from it. A content moan left my mouth instantly. It was like heaven. Sweet, chocolaty, fluffy, and moist heaven. I took one, two, three eager bites, not caring if it wasn't very ladylike.

"I'm guessing you like them." Satomi voiced, amusement laced in her voice. I looked at her sheepishly, and swallowed the piece of muffin that was in my mouth.

"These are really _really _good!" I said sincerely. Satomi waved her hand dismissively, although I didn't miss the look of pride that was on her face.

"Thanks, dear." she said as she tilted her head to the side. A look of confusion was painted on her aging face. "Akira what is that on your face?" she asked in concern. Her soft hand was on my cheek. Her thumb was rubbing near a bruise I had gotten earlier when I fought with Zabuza. I realized what she was talking about and attempted to soothe her concerns.

"It's nothing. Just a bruise, I got from training. I've started training with the man who took me in. He just got a good hit in that time. Don't worry I landed a few on him to." I said, touched that Satomi cared about my well-being. Satomi still looked concern and unsure, but she dropped her hand from my cheek.

We spent the rest of the time talking, and I really didn't want to leave when it was time to go. My visits with Satomi always left me in a better mood.

"Here take these with you. I know I'm not going to be able to eat all of these." Satomi said holding out a bag full of muffins. I squealed. Yes, I squealed, if you ever had Satomi's muffins I bet you would do the same. I took the bag grateful, and gave Satomi a big hug and kiss on the cheek. With a promise I intended to keep, I left the store and ran to my meeting spot with Haku, the bag of muffins hitting my leg with each step I took. It wasn't hard to spot Haku, huffing and panting I ran over to where he was. The teen turned and smiled at me happily. I held out my bag while trying to catch my breath. Haku waited patiently for me to explain my actions.

"Satomi made muffins, and they are sinfully delicious. You have to try one!" I stated seriously. Haku chuckled and took one out of the bag. With great anticipation, I waited for him to take a bite, and it was worth the wait. A look of pure happiness worked its way to his face.

I chuckled. "Told ya."

We started to walk back, all the while talking about how great Satomi's muffins were.

* * *

I woke up in the middle of the night a little hungry and thirsty. Throwing back my covers, I padded quietly to the kitchen already knowing what I had in mind to eat. Satomi's muffins. Entering the kitchen, I was drawn to the container that held the goodies. Walking to where it was, I grabbed it and opened it.

"The precious." I muttered as I licked my lips. I couldn't help but feel like I was an evil villain preying on innocent muffin bystanders. Oh well, the muffins will get over it. Shrugging my shoulders I grabbed another chocolate one and turned around so I could get a glass of water. A small scream escaped my mouth and I almost dropped my delicious snack. There in all of his stalker glory was Zabuza, with his face clear of a mask.

"Oh my gosh! Do you get kicks out of scaring people? This is like the second time already." I hissed. Zabuza chuckled lowly, moving closer to me. I slyly slid away from him and moved over to the sink, grabbing a cup and filled it up with water.

"What are you doing up?" he asked with his arms crossed his chest, muscles flexing all the while. He has a really muscular and handsome body. No, Akira don't think that. He is the man that's keeping you here against your will. I mean who cares if he's muscular? I don't. Not at all.

"I just woke up and decided to have a midnight snack. A friend of mine made muffins today and she gave me some to take home. They're really good, you should help yourself to one." I said.

"I think I will." he responded as he walked back over to where I was. This time I didn't move because I was curious of what he was going to do. He moved so close that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. He moved one of his to beside me one the counter, caging me in on that side. I could feel goosebumps forming at his closeness. His other hand moved where I was holding the muffin lightly brushing my fingers. Butterflies erupted in my stomach. Why was I having this reaction to him? Maybe it was because he was to close to me. Yeah, that's it. His head moved closer to mine, and I just held my breath, waiting to see what he was going to do. He moved closer and closer, and I felt like I couldn't breath. Is he going to kiss me? God, I hope he doesn't.

'_That's a lie!' _my mind said all smug and cocky.

'_Shut up, head. That is not what I want to happen!" _I snapped internally.

_'Liar.' _

Zabuza moved closer to me, and I was pretty sure he was actually going to kiss me, only to have him take a bite out of the muffin at the last second. He pulled back with a smug smirk on his face, and an amused glint in his eyes. I was just shocked, and a little disappointed. Wait, disappointed. Why am I disappointed? Did I actually want him to kiss me?

"You're right. They are good. Good night Akira, sweet dreams." and with that he walked out of the kitchen, leaving me with one thought on my mind.

What the hell?

I numbly went to take another bite of my muffin only to remember what just happened. "You ate my freaking muffin, you bastard!" I shouted with a frown.

* * *

**AN: So, here's chapter six. I hope you liked it. I'm actually happy that I uploaded this as fast as I did. Anywho, I actually liked how it turned out, and I hope you felt the same. Please review and thanks for reading! Chapter seven should be up soon. Thanks for reading! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't won Naruto, and I probably never will. I only own my OC Akira. **

**So, I just want to thank those who read and to those who reviewed. I really appreciate it. So...enjoy! :)**

* * *

It's been about five months since I decided to stay and work for Zabuza, although in my mind it felt like an eternity. Sometimes, it still felt like I was just dreaming and any second I was going to wake up from the nightmare that had become my life. Whenever I woke up though and found myself in a room that originally wasn't my own, I would quickly remember what had happened. My training with Zabuza had progressed from hand to hand combat, to using weapons, and finally to using jutsus, which was actually kind of fun, not that I would tell him that though. I also sparred a couple of times with Haku who was more powerful than he looked, which led me to find out that he had a kekkei genkai or a bloodline limit. Honestly, I thought Haku's kekkei genkai was pretty awesome and it left me wishing I had one. Even though I thought I had improved immensely, I was still barred by Zabuza to go on jobs. Ultimately, I was usually left by myself for long periods of time and I normally went to visit Satomi for some company.

Satomi had become like a second mother to me which I was most thankful for. She was patient, kind, and had a great sense of humor. Plus, she gave good advice when I was facing a dilemma. I even broke down and told her about really happened to me, and I was prepared for her to cast aside our friendship. But to my surprise, she gave me a hug and comforted me. Zabuza found out about our little relationship and wasn't exactly thrilled. Alright, he was pissed. But, I told him he would have to get over it, that I was a twenty-one year old woman who was not being told what friends I could and could not have, and that I wasn't having it. As a result of this little tirade of mine, the next training session was pretty hard. I'm pretty sure he's okay with it now, although the baked treats that Satomi gives me to take home probably had a part in it. He totally has a secret sugar obsession. My relationship with Haku also improved to. He quickly grew to be a little brother to me. He was so sweet and I loved him. I was honestly glad that I got to meet him. We would cook dinner together and take walks together in the woods. He even patiently listened to me rant about what Zabuza did to piss me off.

Speaking of Zabuza, it seemed that me and him still had petty arguments and disagreements that were usually instigated by me. Honestly, I got a kick out of them because seeing Zabuza ticked off was hilarious for me. Haku warned me that my little arguments with him were going to land me in some trouble with said man, but I shrugged it off saying that I would deal with it when it happened. I had to admit that he was a pretty good teacher, even though he could be pretty tough on you. But, I wasn't going to satisfy him by telling him that. Wouldn't want it to go to his already big ego. Despite that, I could feel these nagging little feelings growing for the man. I didn't want them to be there, but somehow they showed up and would not go away. It wasn't like Zabuza was an unattractive man, it was the opposite. I noticed it the first time I saw him, although I couldn't dwell too much on it considering the fact he was trying to kill me. His spiky hair begged me to run my fingers through it, and I felt like his dark eyes could see right through me. It didn't hurt that he was perfectly chiseled. His whole upper body was toned and defined with lean muscles that you could only get from training intensely. And I couldn't erase the picture of his unmasked face from my mind. It was like, it was ingrained in there. Every time I thought about it, I could just feel my face threaten to heat up with a blush. But, I couldn't tell him about these silly little feelings I was experiencing. That would be the stupidest mistake I could ever make. I doubt the guy had a heart to feel something for someone else, let alone love in the first place. Besides, it would probably never work anyway, considering he's my boss and stuff.

Right now though, I was going to face him on letting me join Haku and him on the next mission, and I wasn't going to take no for an answer.

* * *

Hastily, I knocked on the door in front of me and opened it, not caring at all what the answer might have been. I marched right in there and put on the most confident face I could muster. Zabuza was sitting on his couch sharpening his sword, although he looked up and lazily met my gaze when I came in.

"Zabuza, we need to talk, now." I stated calmly. Zabuza put down his sword, and turned his attention to me. I was kind of shocked that he didn't say anything yet. He motioned for me to go on, and I could see this look of amusement on his face.

"These past few months, my skills have improved greatly and I think it's time for me to start accompanying you and Haku on missions." I continued to say. There, I said it. "And I'm not taking no for an answer." I added on at the end.

"Fine." he answered simply.

"Why not? You know I'm good. Wait-what?!"I asked just now registering what he said.

"I said, You. Can. Go." he repeated, sounding as if he was talking to a child. I wanted to jump around and shout with joy. Hell, I even wanted to give old grouchy pants a hug, but I'm sure that wouldn't go down so nicely. So, I refrained myself and kept a calm composure. Looking at Zabuza, I could see his lips twitch in amusement and I knew he knew what I really wanted to do.

"Well, thank you. What's this mission all about?"

"It's a protection job. We're supposed to be guarding a lord and his family. Apparently, they're being targeted by a neighboring lord who's set on taking his land." Zabuza told me.

I cocked my head to the side in thought, "Shouldn't he have some type of protection? I mean after all, he is a lord."

"He does, but they're not strong enough to ward off the other lord's little army of guards. That's where we come in. We protect them if there's attack, which there probably will be if the lord is greedy enough. We take out the other guards and scare the lord off." he explained.

I nodded in acceptance, "So, when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning. It should be a three-day trip, if someone doesn't slow us down." Zabuza mocked, trying to get a rise out of me, and I was going to give into it to but I didn't want to give him what he wanted.

I smirked, "Don't worry about me. You should worry about yourself old man. You're not as young as you used to be." I teased taking joy in the way his eye twitched in annoyance. Have I said how much I love pissing this guy off? "Hmm, I'll be ready."

I turned and started to head my way out of the room. "See ya later, Momochi." I said lazily over my shoulder. As I expected, the only answer I got was a grunt. Sneaking a quick peek over my shoulder, I saw that he decided to go resume sharpening his sword which was interrupted when I barged my way in. Closing the door behind me, I decided to search for Haku and tell him the news. After walking around for a while, I found the teen in the living room, curled on the couch with a book. Tiptoeing quietly over to where he was sitting, I bent down and leaned on the back of the couch.

"Akira, I know you're behind me." he said not even looking up from his book to acknowledge me.

I pouted in annoyance. "Haku, you're no fun." I whined as Haku laughed lightly.

"I can't help it if you weren't exactly quiet as you were trying to scare me." he replied. Sighing, I stood up and carefully slid my way over the back of the couch, letting out a small grunt at the unexpected rough landing. Haku bookmarked the page he was on, and finally closed the book to look at me. I started to bounce around in barley contained excitement.

"Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?" I asked with a huge smile on my face. Haku rolled his eyes playfully at my antics.

"What?" he replied wearily.

"Guess who's joining you on the next mission you embark on? This girl!" I said pointing at myself proudly.

"Congratulations. I'm proud of you." Haku said as he reached forward to pat my knee showing that he was sincerely happy for me.

"Thank you." I said genuinely happy that Haku was proud of me. He knew how hard Zabuza was on me, and he always told me that I would make it through it. "When I went to face Zabuza about it, I put up a good front pretending that I was confident and stuff, but really I'm actually kind of nervous and a little scared." I confessed, wringing my hands out of habit.

"What are you scared of?"

I shrugged my shoulders noncommittally. "I don't know. I guess...I'm scared of ruining the mission. Just being a complete failure. I mean, what if, God forbid someone gets kidnapped and I have to go after them. I'm not sure if I would be good enough to actually get them back."

Haku moved closer to me, his face serious. "Akira, don't ever doubt yourself. You are amazing and I'm pretty sure you would be able to stand on your own and defend yourself if push came to shove. Zabuza won't admit it, but when you guys were training there were times where you almost came close to beating him. And there were other times that you got him so good that he would come to me so I could patch him up. So next time you feel insecure and start doubting yourself, you should think about that."

I couldn't help but smile at him. He always had a way of cheering me up and knowing the right thing to say. He should really be one of those people who help others by saying inspirational speeches and sayings. "Haku, you always know the right thing to say." I could see the blush on his face that only made my smile brighten.

I moved so I could lay my head in his lap and I could see Haku looking at me weirdly. "Eh, I was bored," I said with a shrug. "Plus, your lap is super comfy. I really have no other explanation or excuse."

Haku just gave me an exasperated sigh and started to run his fingers through my hair. "How old are you again?" he questioned as he looked down at me with a pointed stare.

"Twenty-one."

"You sure don't act like it. Sometimes, I think I'm older than you."

I flicked his knee in mock offense. "Hey, I resent that statement!"

Haku laughed, giving a piece of my hair a slight tug. I glared at him playfully. "It's true."

I spent the rest of the afternoon chilling with Haku on the couch, which I actually didn't mind. His fingers and his soothing massage on my scalp actually put me to sleep at one point. I don't think Haku minded either since he was reading that book which I found out was his favorite. It was a mystery called _The 6th Murder, _and Haku promised that I could borrow it after he was done reading it. After hanging out with Haku, having some ramen for dinner, and taking a quick shower, I decided that it would be good to start packing my bag for the trip so I wouldn't have to worry about it tomorrow. I was running around my room in search of the items I needed.

_Weapons...check. Extra clothes...check. Some reading material for when I get bored...check. Womanly supplies for when mother nature decides to be a bitch and surprise me...check. Secret stash of snacks that I will only maybe share with Haku...check. Alright, that seems to be about everything._

Changing into my pajamas, I placed the bag on the dresser so I wouldn't forget it, although I doubt I would. Pulling back the covers, I slipped into the warm bed and let a content sigh escape my mouth at the warm comfort I got from the mattress. Curling into a ball, I snuggled into the pillow and just let my mind warder. I knew I should probably go to sleep , but I couldn't. I think I was to psyched up for tomorrow. I know Haku told me not to worry, but I couldn't help it. I just couldn't fail this. I was not going to let Zabuza think I was weak and pathetic. I had to prove him wrong. All these thoughts just kept playing on autopilot in my mind for about another hour until finally I just tired myself out.

* * *

**AN: So, I know this chapter was short, but it was kind of a transition of sorts to where I wanted to go next in the story. I hope this chapter was good. I cant really say if I'm thrilled with how it came out. I want to thank those who read and I hope that you all stay tuned for chapter eight which will be out shortly. So, until next time :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't won Naruto, and I probably never will. I only own my OC Akira.**

**So, I just want to thank those who read and to those who reviewed. I really appreciate it. So...enjoy! :)**

* * *

By the time my alarm, went off I had already been awake for about an hour. Turning it off, I reluctantly left the warm comfort of my bed and headed to take a quick shower, knowing that it might be a while before I had another one. The warm spray of water and the strong smell of my ocean spray shower gel did little to calm my shaking nerves. Wrapping a towel around me, I walked back to my room, and stood in front of my closet to pick out what clothes I should wear for the mission. After searching hard, I decided on a black lined mesh tank top with a dark green off the shoulder shirt that stopped at my midriff, black spandex shorts with bandages wrapped around both of my upper thighs, and my normal black sandals. I threw my black hair into a high ponytail, and secured my weapons pouch around my bandage clad right thigh. Satisfied with what I threw together, I grabbed my bag and closed my door to meet up with the others. Walking into the kitchen I grabbed an apple and decided that this was a quick enough little breakfast snack. Truthfully, I didn't want o eat to much for fear of getting sick with all the traveling we would be doing. It wasn't to long after that when, Haku walked into the kitchen. He followed my idea, but instead of grabbing an apple he grabbed a banana.

"Good morning," he greeted after swallowing the bit of banana he had in his mouth.

I smiled in return. "Good morning to you to, little Haku," I said before taking another bite of my apple. Haku just gave me a deadpanned look.

"What?" I asked with a bit of mischief clearly present in my voice. "You know you loved that little rhyme I did there."

Haku just rolled his eyes, but I could see the small smile that was on his lips even though he tried hard to hide it.

"So, where's Momo? The old man is going to be late." Haku gave me a warning look. I just grinned real wide back at him.

"What did you just say?" A deep voice snarled. I looked up at the kitchen doorway and just shrugged innocently.

"Oh, nothing," I replied playing dumb. "Are we ready to go kiddies? Don't want to be late."

With an annoyed grunt Zabuza started his way out of the house and Haku followed him with an exasperated shake of the head, like a frazzled parent. Throwing away the apple core, I couldn't help but laughed as I followed them out.

* * *

We had walked for what seemed like eternity. Okay, I'm probably just exaggerating by a little...alright a lot, but still it was a pretty long time. My feet were killing me, and at some points in our little journey I was lagging behind. And maybe there were times where I seriously considered calling a timeout or something so I could take a break, but then I thought, better not. Haku even looked at me a few times in concern, but I just discreetly shook my head no. Couldn't give Zabuza the satisfaction of being right. I so didn't want to see that stupid smug smirk on that handsome face of his. NO! God Kira, get it together! Do not think that of Momo the cow.

"We're stopping here for the night." Zabuza announced setting down his pack.

Thank God! You finally heard my desperate pleas. Eagerly, I set my bag against the trunk of a tree, and sat down taking greedy sips from my water bottle that I grabbed from my bag.

"We need to split up, and grab firewood for the fire and someone needs to scout the area, check to see if there are potential enemies nearby," Zabuza said. "I'll scout the perimeter while you two search for firewood." he ordered. I glanced at Haku quickly with a smile, thankful that I didn't get stuck with Zabuza.

"Actually Zabuza, I was hoping I could do the scouting. I don't mind really. I want to stretch my legs and stuff." Haku announced. I shot him a confused look, one that he blatantly ignored.

"We've walked for the past four hours. How much more stretching of your legs do you need to do?" I questioned seriously.

"I just want to check out the area," he said coyly. I scowled at him in annoyance. "Zabuza, is that okay with you?"

Zabuza nodded albeit reluctantly. "Be back before it gets to dark, and make sure you are not seen by someone."

Haku nodded and he quietly leapt up into the tree tops. I was so going to kill him when he got back. He is so no longer on my "sharing my special snacks with" list.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me, huh chief?" I asked giving Zabuza my most charming smile. Zabuza just scowled and started heading into the surrounding forest.

"Let's go." was all he said.

"It's nice to know you want to spend some quality time with me, you big ol' ray of sunshine," I said all snarky at him. I could see his body tense up some, and I could help but smirk haughtily at his back.

We walked into the forest stopping now and then to pick up some sticks and twigs. It was mostly quiet between the two of us, and it was a little awkward, but it was also kind of comforting to.

"Fuck! Oww," I shouted breaking the silence. I dropped the stick I was holding and grabbed my now throbbing finger. Zabuza stopped what he was doing and his head swiveled so fast in my direction, I was afraid his head would have flew off.

"Ow! Shit!" I cursed, jumping up and down in place, which come to think about it did not make my finger feel any better.

Zabuza growled and walked over to where I was standing. "Why are you screaming like a child?" he asked scowling. Pouting at him, I lifted up my injured finger directly in front of his face. He grabbed my hand and lowered it away from his face. "What's wrong with it?"

"A stupid splinter is stuck in my finger," I whined glaring at the offending piece of wood. "And it was that stupid piece of wood's fault."

Rolling his eyes he took my hand with a gentleness I didn't know he had. His fingertips roamed over my hand until he came upon the site where the splinter was. The electric shock and current caused by his hand on mine sent delicious shivers down my spine. I wonder if he could feel what I just felt. Slipping a kunai from his pocket, he took it and nicked my finger with it trying to get the splinter out. It took him a try, but he finally pulled the small piece of wood out. He flicked it away and put the kunai back in his pocket. I was so happy that he got the splinter out, but I was wondering what I should do with the blood that was gushing out of my finger. I looked up at Zabuza ready to thank him for what he did, but what he did next completely surprised me. Unraveling his mask, he took my finger and put it into his mouth. A startled gasp left my mouth. What was he doing? It was...it was like he was trying to suck the blood from my finger. I had no idea if I should be creeped out or actually hot and bothered by it. Frankly and sadly to say, I was the latter. I think the intense stare he was giving me really played a part in it.

"Zabuza," I muttered, unconsciously taking a step closer to him never taking my eyes away from his. I was scared that if I did, this moment would just disappear. I moved my unoccupied hand to his forearm trying to steady my hazy mind. God, what was this man doing to me? He was my boss for crying out loud and he kind of sort of kidnapped me, but why was my stomach churning with nerves and invisble butterflies. He slipped my finger from his mouth and gave it a feather light kiss. From where I was, I could see that the bleeding had stopped. I moved my hand up and down his arm feeling the muscles that were flexing from my touch. It took a lot out of me to restrain myself from throwing myself and kissing the man standing in front of me into oblivion.

His dark lust filled gaze shifted from my face to the finger that he was holding. He looked at it like it was offending him. I squinted my eyes in confusion, and Zabuza dropped my hand like it burned him, and stepped away from me. Then and there I knew that the little moment we had was over. I was extremely upset that it was over before something else could happen, but I knew I was being foolish for ever thinking that something could have.

"We need to keep looking," he said, his voice was huskier and rougher than usual. I nodded my head, and took a deep breath to calm me down.

We spent the rest of the time searching for more wood. We both were avoiding each other and I was left trying to figure out what the hell transpired back there. I mean did he have some of the feelings that I have for him or did he just get caught up in the moment? There was just something oddly sensual about what he did and I couldn't help the dirty thoughts that popped into my head. No, calm yourself down woman. He would be nothing but trouble. He's a criminal for crying out loud. Processing what happened, I stumbled unknowingly upon a small lake, which was begging me to take a swim in. Maybe I would do it later, after everything simmered down. About twenty minutes later we were back at the campsite, and I set the sticks down in a pile. Zabuza followed suit and I did a small jutsu, to get the fire to start. Haku came back an hour after us, and we decided to eat the dinner from the little dinner packs Haku made for us.

"I'll take first watch," I offered after we cleaned up. Haku and Zabuza just nodded and I leapt up onto a tree branch that was in the tree that was nearby my backpack. I carefully braced myself against the branch and leaned my back against the trunk to get more comfortable. Taking watch was mostly boring and there were times were I accidentally went to slip. Okay, so I wasn't that great at this whole keep watch thing but in my defense it wasn't the most exciting of jobs. I kind of regret offering to do this. At one point I closed my eyes, and just listened to the nightlife that was buzzing all around me. Crickets were chirping loudly in a unified song and the hoots of the owls were echoing in the nighttime air. A hand on my shoulder caused me to snap my eyes open startled. I was about to scream, but I refrained myself from doing it when I saw who it was.

"Hey, what do you want?" I asked Zabuza warily.

"You're shift's over. I'll take it from here," Zabuza answered. I nodded my head okay, and leapt from where I was stationed at to the ground. Now would be a good time to check out that lake I found earlier, and take a little late night swim. Bending down, I grabbed my bag and put it on. I looked up at Zabuza who had this questioning look on his face.

"I'm going to check out this lake I saw not to far from here. I'll be back in like an hour and a half or two," I said, when I didn't hear him respond I kept walking in the direction of where I knew the lake would be. Whistling a tune, I made my way to my destination pushing tree branches out of my way and carefully steeping over fallen twigs and logs. It wasn't to long later when I arrived at the lake. Not caring since no one was around (hopefully, no one was around or else that would be pretty pissed off...and creeped out), I stripped down to where I was naked and folded my clothes and placed them neatly on the ground. Placing a toe into the water I couldn't help but cringe at the freezing cold temperature of it. Deciding to bear the cold, I rushed into the water and dived down headfirst when I found out that the water became much deeper. Swimming back up to the surface, I broke through it for some much-needed air. Pushing my hair away from my face, I treaded water to stay in place.

Taking a few moments to get into the groove of swimming, I swam in long strides further away from where I was. When I reached where I wanted to be, I decided to take a break and just float on my back in the water and if anyone was being a "Peeping Tom" right now they were certainly getting an eyeful. Looking up at the sky, I couldn't help but be in awe at the sight before me. The moon was full and the stars were splayed across the sky in a random pattern. It was absolutely beautiful. I started to search for the constellations, my dad used to point out for me when I was a kid. We used to lay out in our backyard on blankets and just spend the night searching for all the constellations we could find. The memory brought tears to my eyes, and I tried to wipe them away, only to make my face even wetter since my hands were in the water. I spent the rest of my time just looking up into the sky.

Suddenly though, I got the feeling that someone was watching me. Shifting to where I was treading water again, I glanced around in the surrounding forest in search of something or someone. Anything really just to explain what I was feeling. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move, and I whipped my head over to where it came from. I didn't see anything, but then I saw a shadow of a person moving. Squinting real hard it looked like it was Zabuza, but it couldn't be. He was back at the campsite. I stayed where I was for a few minutes to see if the person (or Zabuza) would show up and when he/she didn't, I decided it was time for me to get out. Swimming to the shore where my clothes were at, I stepped out of the water and quickly slipped on my clothes. Wringing out my hair, I grabbed my backpack and headed back to camp. Arriving back at the camp, I looked up at the tree and lo and behold there was Zabuza in all of his glory. So maybe it wasn't him at the lake, but I could've sworn I saw him there. Shaking my head in bewilderment, I put down my bag and set up my bed roll. I snuggled into the warmth radiating from it and closed my eyes, missing the knowing smirk coming from Zabuza's mouth.

* * *

Yawning, I threw the cover to my bed roll off of me and I threw my arms into the air so I could stretch out the kinks that were from sleeping on the hard ground. Standing up, I bent over touching my toes to stretch my body out further and I could feel this intense stare burning into my ass. Peering over my shoulder, I saw Zabuza intently looking at it from where he was standing across the campsite.

"Pervert," I mumbled, but I couldn't help but smile at what he was doing. Well, at least I know he found one part of my body attractive. Standing right up again, I quickly caught the apple that Haku threw my way.

"Breakfast," he explained simply. Accepting that answer, I bit into my favorite fruit and licked my lips at the juice that was from the apple. After eating our quick little breakfast, it was time to hit the road again. After making sure that the fire was out and that we had everything we started to head off. Before we got to far away though I quickly grabbed the back of Haku's collar. Making sure that I wasn't really choking him, I pulled him back to where I was standing.

"Don't think I forgot about that little stunt you pulled yesterday. You are so dead. Expect revenge in the near future," with that being said, I let him go and patted him on the back making sure his clothes were back in place. "Let's go slow poke. Don't want to make Zabuza mad do you?" I gave him an innocent smile and walked on ahead. On the inside I was laughing so hard.

* * *

**AN: So, here's chapter 8 and I hope you like it. Please read and enjoy, thanks! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**:** I don't own Naruto, and I probably never will. I only own my OC Akira and Lord Yutaka and his family.**

**First off, I want to say sorry this update took me longer than what I originally predicted. I started volunteering at a preschool during the afternoons and I usually do that everyday, so I haven't had a lot of time. Plus, I have summer work to do so you know how it is. **

**So, I just want to thank those who read and to those who reviewed. To Cloudy Momochi, I absolutely loved your review. Put a big ass smile on my face when I read it. And to squishypeanut12: I'm glad you like the story and here is your update.**

** I want to also thank those who are following this story, it makes me feel all special and stuff. I really appreciate it. So...enjoy! :)**

* * *

As predicted we made it to the lord's house in three days. I was exhausted and I really wanted to just take a shower and take a nice long nap, but we had to meet with our employer first. When we walked up to the front of what was a huge mansion, we were stopped by two guards and after notifying them why we were here they escorted us to the house. They led us inside and I was floored by the interior decorating it had. A large crystal chandelier hang from the ceiling and a rosewood colored grand staircase greeted us in the front room. Peering to the right of me, I could see a cozy and nicely furnished family room and to the left of me I could see that there was an expensive looking dinning room. I felt tapping on my shoulder, and saw him motioning that we needed to follow the guards again. The guards led us down one of the downstairs hallway until they stopped in front of one of the doors at the end of the hall.

One of the guards knocked on the door. "Lord Yutaka, your clients are here," the guy announced, through the door.

"Send them in," a muffled voice said in return.

The guard opened the door, and let us go in. We filed in the room, Zabuza first, then Haku and lastly me. Entering the room, I could see a man who looked to be in his late forties, early fifties sitting behind a mahogany hued ornate designed desk. His brown eyes were stern, but held a certain friendliness to them. His chestnut colored hair was sprinkled with strands of gray, which actually suited him. He smiled at us, and I could see that his teeth were perfect;y straight and white. Lord Yutaka waved us in and motioned for us to sit in the chairs in front of his desk, except there was only two which meant someone would have to stand. Zabuza nodded slightly hinting that I could take a seat and Haku followed my example. Zabuza stood behind us with his large arms crossed against his chest.

"I hope you didn't have trouble getting here," Yutaka said after we were all situated.

"No," Zabuza answered shortly.

Lord Yutaka cleared his throat. "Well, that's good." he said after a moment. He then turned his attention towards me. "'And who is this beautiful young woman? I wasn't aware that you would be accompanying Mr. Momochi and Haku."

I smiled at him flattered. "Akira. My name is Akira, Lord Yutaka. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Lord Yutaka smiled at me in return. "Lets get down to business, shall we? I believe you all know why you are here. Over the years, I have always had problems with Lord Shigeru. He's a fat, greedy, and vindictive man. Shigeru claims that some the land I own rightfully belongs to him, which is not true. This land has been in my clan for centuries. Although, Shigeru tries to ignore that little detail. The problems that I had with him were normally small, and were really no problem to take care of. But as of recently they have gotten worse. There have been these random and surprise attacks on my house and on my family. Each time they get worse. Some of my guards are getting badly injured and there isn't enough people. That's where you three come in. For the next attack that is bound to happen, I'm hoping you all can put a stop to it." he explained.

"Hmm. Doubt it will be a challenge. You do know the payment that will be required for this, don't you?" Zabuza questioned.

Yatuka nodded and started to rummage in one of his desk drawers. He pulled out a pouch and held it up so we could see. "I have it right here. You will receive it at the end of the job."

Zabuza grunted in agreement. That pouch looked pretty big and filled. I wonder how much money was in there. The lord put the pouch back in the desk and locked it with a key. He stood up from his chair and walked over to the side of the desk we were on.

"Now that we have that settled, why don't I take you on a tour of the estate. That way if there is an attack, you can know your way around and be able to manuever. Also, I'll show you to your rooms." He walked over to the door and opened it slightly. "Shall we?"

Haku and I got up out of our seats, and walked over to where the older man was standing waiting for us. Yutaka motioned for me to go first and I gave him a smile in thanks. I moved aside and let him get back to the front since he knew his way around. He led us down the hallway stopping when he got to another brown door. He opened it and let us go in. The burgundy colored walls were covered with large wooden bookcases that went from the length of the ceiling to the floor. There was a deep chestnut-brown sitting chair located near the large window with curtains to match the walls. A small table was next to it holding a lamp that gave off enough light to read. A throw rug was in the middle of the room carefully placed on the dark-colored floor. And a large couch that was the same color as the chair was pushed against the only wall without a bookcase, and was right next to the door. Its cushions looked like they could just swallow your body in a comfortable bliss while you were whisked away in another world. Instantly, I dubbed this place as my new getaway spot. I could just see myself now, curled up on the couch reading an enthralling romance novel, sucked up in my own little world.

We left the library and continued on the journey. He took us to the kitchen with its state of the art appliances (I'm pretty sure made Haku envious that we didn't have one similar to that) ,and to the living room that had soft carpet and a grand fireplace. He showed us the garden that was filled with every type of flower that could be imagined and had a small pond that was filled with red and black koi fish swimming in the water. Our tour ended with him showing us to our rooms. He took Haku and Zabuza to their rooms and led me to mine which was further down the hall.

"And this is your room. We're having dinner at around seven I presume. There are clothes that you can use in that closet and the bathroom is right through there," he said, pointing to a closed-door that was across from the bed. "Well, I'll let you get settled in."

"Thank you," I said, before he closed the door. Putting my bag down on a nearby dresser, I took a moment to look at the room I would be living in for however long this mission would be. The walls were painted a baby blue color with a white trim lining the room. There was a white dresser, vanity set, bed side table, and a desk scattered across the spacious room. There was a bay window that overlooked the garden with a small blue decorative pillow on the ledge. The large king size bed, which was big enough to fit three of me, had a blue comforter with silver swirly designs. It looked so comfortable and I bet it had top of the line sheets to. I am officially jealous. Taking off my sandals and casting them aside without a care, I quickly sprinted across the soft carpeted floor and threw myself on the bed. I couldn't help but laugh at my silliness, and at the fact that I was right about this bed being as comfortable as it looked. Noticing an alarm clock on the bedside table, I set an alarm to ring at 6'o clock, and deciding that a nap would be perfect right about now. I would unpack and get situated later. Grabbing a pillow, I curled my body against it and fell into a much-needed slumber.

* * *

_BRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGG!_

Startled, I sat up blearily wondering was that noise was. Glancing around, I saw that I wasn't in my room. Where the hell was I? My room does not look as awesome as this one. Why is that noise going off?

"Shut up," I mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. A lightbulb went off in my head and I remembered where I was. Reaching over to where the alarm clock was, I slapped my hand on the snooze button to silence the annoying noise. Letting out a big yawn, I hopped off my bed and padded my way to my bag. Grabbing some undergarments, I headed to the adjoined bathroom to get cleaned up for dinner. As soon as I stepped into the bathroom, I literally had to pick my jaw up from the floor. The floors were shinning with white tiles, and with tan tiles on a good part of the walls with white paint covering the rest. A white shower/bath with a glass panel was on the right side of the bathroom while the sink and toilet were on the other. I put my clothes down on a shelf that was next to the sink. Stripping off my clothes, I hopped into the shower and turned on the water. I grabbed the soap that was already there and went to work scrubbing off the day old grime from an exhausted journey. About twenty minutes later I cut off the shower, and grabbed a towel from the nearby towel rack. I dried off my hair first and then my body. I used some lavender-scented oil and lotion I found on the shelf before putting my bra and panties on. After doing that, I exited the bathroom and turned off the lights. I went back to my room and was now faced with the task of deciding what to wear.

I opened the closet and was surprised to find that it was already filled with all types of clothes for women. I sorted through the rack of clothes, searching for something that was right for dinner. I didn't want to wear any ol' piece of clothing, it had to like nice. It had to be something presentable. I mean I was going to be meeting the rest of the family, but did that mean it was going to be some type of formal thing. Maybe I should have asked Lord Yutaka before he left. Screw it, I'll just wear a kimono and next time I'll know what to wear. I passed kimono and kimono until I found the perfect one. Smiling I grabbed it, and put it on. Looking at myself in the mirror, the light blue kimono with pink and red floral designs complemented my tan skin and body perfectly. I grabbed my brush from my bag and started to brush my still damp hair. After finding a hair tie and a few pins, I threw my hair into a low bun at the nape of my neck. Then, I clipped on a light pink flower pin. Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was almost time for dinner. Putting my sandals on, I left my room, closed the door behind me, and started to head down to the dining room. When I stepped into the dining room, I noticed that Haku and Zabuza were already there. Haku was staring at me with surprise, while Zabuza's eyes widened just a bit.**  
**

"Do I look that bad? I knew it. I just knew I was to dressed up." I ranted, throwing my hands up in frustration. "That's it, I have to change."

"No!" Haku blurted out suddenly. "No, don't change. You look beautiful."

"Really?" I asked unsure.

Haku nodded his head in confirmation. "Yeah, stunning."

"Thank," I replied with a smile. "I hope I'm not dressed to formal. I just really wanted to make a good impression."

"I don't think you're to dressed up. That kimono looks perfect on you. Don't you agree Zabuza?"

Zabuza scowled, which was very clear through his bandages and glared at Haku, who just brushed it off. "You, uh...look nice," he muttered, looking everywhere but at me.

I bit my lip to stop the large smile that wanted to break out on my face. "Thank you Zabuza, I really appreciate hearing you say that,"

It was at that moment that Lord Yutaka made his presence known. "It looks like all of you made it on time," he said as he stepped further into the room. A woman, little girl, and a teenager were right behind him. He cleared his throat. "I would like you to meet my wife Kazumi," he announced, gesturing to the woman. Lady Kazumi seemed to be in her mid forties, but she still had a youthful vibe to her. Quite honestly, she was beautiful. Her black hair which was in a tight bun on top of her head, resembled the shiny coat of feathers on a raven. And her startling green eyes, were only enhanced even more with her impeccable makeup.

"It's very nice to meet all of you. And I must thank you for all that you are doing to protect my family and I," she said politely.

"My daughter Reika," Lord Yutaka continued.

"Hi," the little girl said shyly. She was so adorable and, she honestly looked to be only about six or seven. Her hair color was the same, her father's was when he was most likely younger, and it was in pigtails with a flower pinned to the right side of her head. Her front teeth were missing which just added on more to her cuteness. Reika also had her mother's green eyes, and I could tell she would have guys chasing after her when she was older because she was going to be beautiful.

"And this is my son Hiroshi," Hiroshi was probably around Haku's age, give or take a year or two. It was kind of hard to tell given the fact he was really tall. Like really _really_ tall. It was ridiculous, he was also kind of muscular but not as muscular as Zabuza was, not that Zabuza was really muscular. His black hair was the same shade as his mother's but it was a tinge darker, and was styled in spiky disarray. His brown eyes showed that he was totally bored, and it was reinforced by the fact that he didn't say anything in response. I totally caught the look that his mother sent him in response to his rudeness.

"Now, this is Akira, Haku and Zabuza. They will be staying with us until everything is settled." Yutaka told his family.

"It's nice to meet you," I said, bowing in respect. Haku followed my example, while Zabuza was his usual self. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his blatant rudeness.

"Well, now that we're all acquainted, why don't we have dinner?" Lord Yutaka suggested, and everyone said or showed their agreements. I slid out a chair, and found myself sitting next to little Reika. I sent her a smile that she shyly returned, her wide toothless gap was proudly on display. I'm not sure if it was magic or some type of telepathic link, because it seemed as soon as we sat down servants came out and started to served the food, knowing that we were all ready to eat. My mouth was watering at the smell and sight of all the delicious food being placed on the table. I said thank you to the woman who placed a plate of food where I was sitting. She nodded her head in acknowledgement and gave me a cheerful smile in return. I broke apart my chopsticks and dug right in the food that was on my plate. Oh my God, this was amazing! I want to go and thank the person who made this for creating something so tasty. Must remember to add that to my list of things to do. Dinner was silent at first, until Lady Kazumi broke it.

"So, Akira, my husband told me that he wasn't aware that you were going to be accompanying Mr. Momochi and Haku," she said, wiping her mouth daintily with a napkin.

"Yes, it was kind of last-minute. I'm sorry if it was such short notice or inconvenient for you all," I said after swallowing some rice.

"No, not at all. I was just wondering if the room that you were in was suitable enough for you. I know there are clothes left in the closet for when my sister visits, but I wasn't sure if they were your size or not."

"I love the room I was given. It's perfect. The clothes looked a bit to small for me, and the shoes were a size to small, but it's not unbearable." I explained.

"That won't do. If you give me your measurements and the correct size I can make sure that you have clothes that feel comfortable on you. That goes for all of you. I want your stay here to be comfortable."

"No, you don't have to do that. I'm already using your spare room. I'm completely fine with the clothes I have now," I said refusing her offer.

"Nonsense," she responded with a dismissal wave of her hand. "It's the least I can do for all of you. I mean what type of host would I be, if I didn't make sure that my guests were accommodated?"

Defeated, I just nodded my head in acceptance. I just knew that I wasn't going to win this fight with Lady Kazumi, but hey, if she's willing to buy me a new wardrobe and other essentials I really need, who am I to stop her? I went back to eating my food, only to stop again when I felt a light tap on my arm. I knew it had to be Reika, so I looked down at her with a quizzical look.

"You're very pretty, and I like your hair," she said with a slight lisp because of the missing teeth. I smiled at her softly, completely flattered that she would say something like that. Kids really are freaking adorable. Little Miss Reika has made her way on to the list of people who I absolutely adore.

"You're pretty to and I love your hair. It's soooooo awesome. I wish my hair was like yours," I said putting on a fake sad face.

Reika patted my hand trying to comfort me. "It's okay. Don't be sad. I can do your hair if you want,"

"Really?"

She nodded her head eagerly, "Yeah, I can do it tonight before bedtime,"

"I don't know..." I said messing with her a bit.

"Puh-leassssseeee!" she pleaded, doing the puppy dog face kids always seemed to be good at. Wow, she is to good at this. I bet she could probably over the world with that face of hers.

I paused and pretended to think about it for a moment. "Hmm...okay!" I said finally relenting.

"Yay!" she cheered. I laughed at her enthusiasm. "Mom, Akira said I could do her hair for her!"

"That's great honey," she replied to the extremely happy little girl "Now, let Akira eat. You can talk to her later."

"Okay," she said dejectedly.

The rest of dinner passed uneventfully, well except for the looks I kept getting from Zabuza. I could feel him looking at me, and everytime I caught him he didn't bother to look away. It was like, he wasn't ashamed of what he did, and he didn't really care that he was caught in the act. Each time it happened I would either look away from his intense gaze or a blush would break out on my face, and when that happened I would usually turn my attention back to my plate. So, I was happy that dinner was over, and I could be left alone and away from Zabuza's eyes.

"We need to figure out how we're doing patrol shifts," Zabuza voiced causing me to stop in my tracks.

"Does it need to be done now?" I whined. My answer was one of Zabuza's famous glares. I think this one conveyed that he was annoyed by my question.

_Well pal, _I thought with a frown. _I feel exactly the same way. _

"Fine," I sighed. "What's the plan?"

"Haku can do the morning, you'll take the afternoon to evening shift, and I'll take the night shift. Objections?"

Why do I get the evening shift? I mean that's probably when dinner is, which sucks. But, I guess it's better than the morning shift because I could sleep late and do whatever I wanted to do like go the library or take a walk. It's also better than the night shift because let's be honest here, I totally love to sleep. Yeah, I'll take the afternoon shift.

"No Zabuza," Haku said.

"What he said. I'm assuming we are starting tomorrow?" Zabuza nodded his head. "Fine. What time does my shift start?"

"Twelve. Be at the edge of the garden," he answered.

"Alright, I'll be there. Meeting adjourned boys. I bid you all, goodnight," I said as I walked away before someone else could interrupt me.

I went back to my room and took of my shows. My fingers moved to my hair, and nimbly took out the pins holding it up. My hair tumbled down in waves and I fluffed it out. I stripped off my clothes and threw on a tank top with a pair of shorts. I threw the dirty clothes in the hamper, and went to go to Reika's room for our little hair date.

After walking to her room, I knocked on the door and it didn't take long for the little girl to answer the door.

"Akira," she gasped. "You came after all!"

I bent down to be level with her. "Of course silly girl, why wouldn't I? I mean, I was promised an amazing hair style from the 'Amazing Reika' right?"

Her eyes were shinning with complete happiness. "Yup," she said grabbing my hand and practically dragging me into her room. She led me over to her bed. "Here, sit right there. I'm going to get the stuff." She moved over her dresser and started rummaging in her drawers. I took this moment to look around her room. There were drawings that were actually pretty good for a seven or eight year old taped to the lilac walls. Dolls were strewn on her carpeted floors, and teddy bears were neatly propped up on her purple bedspread. It was a typical young girl's room."Okay, I got everything. You ready?"

I hummed a 'yes', and I could feel the bed dip behind me. Tiny hands started to gently pull my hair, and I could feel the brush running through my hair. It was so soothing, and it was literally lulling me to sleep.

"Are you a ninja?" Reika asked making me snap out of my daydream. Hmmm, how to answer this?

"Kind of sorta, but not really," I answered. Her brushing stopped.

"I don't get it,"she stated confused.

"Neither do I. Let me put it like this. I have the same skills as a ninja, but officially I'm not a ninja." I explained simply.

"Oh, that makes a lot more sense."

"Yeah, I guess it does." I said looking over my shoulder.

After that we started to talk about our likes and dislikes, and little nonsensical things. It was actually pretty fun.

"Can I braid your hair into a fishtail?" she asked. I nodded my head, and I could feel her separating my hair to braid it. It was about a minute or two later when I felt her hands stop moving. "Done."

My hand moved to the back of my head where I could feel the intricate braid laying against my back. "Here," she said as she handed me a handheld mirror. I took it and moved my head sideways so I could see it better.

"Wow Reika, you did a really awesome job," I praised truly meaning it. Is it lazy if I stop doing my hair, and come to her everyday so she can do it? Yeah, that is being lazy and like child exploitation or something.

"Really? Thanks, Akira." There was a knock on the door, and I turned my head to see Lady Kazumi at the door.

"Mommy, look. Akira let me do her hair, and she said I did an awersome job at it," she said, running up to her mother. Her mother puts her hand on her child's shoulder in attempt to calm her down.

"Did she really?" Reika nodded. "Well that was nice of her. But now it's time for bed."

"No, Moooooommmmm. I'm not tired, and I want to play some more with Akira." she whined with a pout and crossed her arms across her chest indignantly.

"Reika," Kazumi warned.

"But Mom,"

"No, buts. It's time to get in the bed. You can play with Akira tomorrow. She's not going anywhere," Kazumi said sternly.

"Yeah Reika, I'll play with you tomorrow. I promise." I said trying to placate her.

"Okay," she sighed. "Good night Akira."

"Good night Reika, Lady Kazumi," I gave a slight bow and left the room. Although, I looked back to see an upset Reika stomping over to her dresser and getting her pajamas. I chuckled under my breath and closed the door behind me.

Quietly whistling a random tune, I started to walk back to my room. Spending time with Reika was a pretty good idea. It was actually a fun time, and it made me remember how much I really love kids. They are the cutest things in the world with puppies and unicorns right behind them. Sometimes I wish I had a younger sibling, so I could pass down my awesome advice and skills to. Then the thought of 'what if I had kids?' popped into my head. Would the older sibling look out for the younger one? If the older sibling was a boy, would he protect the girl with all of his might or would the older sister teach the younger brother how important treating a girl right is? Wait, pause. How am I supposed to have kids? I mean, I agreed to be some tool for someone for the rest of my life. I highly doubt Zabuza would let me go out and have dates. Not that he would admit it, but I bet he would be jealous deep down in that little black heart of his. But what right would he have to be jealous of who I dated? It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything...what if he was my boyfriend? No, Akira would you stop with that idea! He sees you as an employee of some sort and nothing else. Although, is it really wrong if I think about it? It's not like I'm acting on my thoughts. A familiar dark figure leaning up against my door immediately brought my rambling thoughts to a halt.

"Zabuza? What are you doing here?" I asked , tilting my head to the side confused. He pushed himself off the wall, and made his way over to where I was standing.

"I knocked on your door, you didn't answer I decided to wait outside until you showed up," he answered completely ignoring my question.

Sighing, I walked over to my door and opened it. I turned around when I got into my room and looked at Zabuza who was just standing there eyebrow raised in question. "Are you coming in or what? I know you came here to talk, so come on in," I stated leaning against the side of my door.

Zabuza stepped into my room, and I shut the door behind him. "So..."

"Where were you?" he questioned, well...more like demanded.

"Is it really any of your business." cue his legendary glare. "But if you must know, I was with Reika and she was doing my hair. See." I pulled my braid over my shoulder so he could see it. "Isn't it pretty?" No response.

"Although, if you weren't staring at me throughout the entire dinner, you might have heard Reika ask me if she could do my hair later." I said slyly. I could feel his glare get more intense.

You know it won't kill you right if you admit I actually looked beautiful tonight? But you won't do it. So once again I'll ask, why are you here again?"

"Tomorrow, I expect you to be on time to your shift and for there to be no problems," he said, finally answering my question.

"Me, causing problems? Why I am just insulted." I replied dramatically. Zabuza looked unimpressed. "Alright, relax. You have my word that nothing will go wrong."

"Good," It was pretty quiet after that. Attempting to break the uncomfortable (well uncomfortable for me at least) silence, I cleared my throat.

"Well, if that's it..." I trailed off unsure of what to say. Zabuza moved closer to me making me move backwards. WIth each step he took, I took one backwards until I felt my bed hit the back of my legs. He shifted to where his body was flush against mine, and I could feel my heart hammering away in my chest. His rough hand gripped my chin loosely and tilted it to where I was looking him in the eyes. Eyes which were dark with lust. Unintentionally, I licked my lips and I saw his eyes hungrily follow the movement. He tilted his head to the side, and his mouth ghosted his way across my jaw until he reached my ear. I couldn't help but moan lowly when he placed a feather light kiss on the spot right below my ear.

"You looked beautiful tonight," he whispered, his voice was more huskier than usual. I shivered involuntarily, and moved my body closer to his. I felt him smirk against my ear, and he moved his head away. He moved his head in front of me, and suddenly his lips were on mine. Oh my God, his lips were everything I thought they would be. I kissed him with all of I had, and it was the best kiss of my entire life. He pulled away, and I was left gasping for air. I could see him smirking in pure cockiness.

"Goodnight," he said and simply walked out of my room, before I could say anything else.

"Good...night," I managed to say, before I threw myself on to my bed with a big shit eating grin plastered on my face. Giggling like a little school girl, I bounced around excitedly on my bed. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and shakily brought my hand up to my lips, lips that were just kissed.

_Did that really just happen?_ I thought confused._ Or was I just dreaming?_

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**And here is Chapter 9. Akira and Zabuza finally kissed, but they will not be in a relationship right away. This chapter was pretty long clocking around 5,607 words. Is it to long or is it just right? I tried to make them longer, but I don't know if most chapters will rival this number of words. It might be about a week and a half before the next chapter is up because as I said I have to complete 30 volunteer hours before I start school and I still have a ton of summer work to do before I go on vacation,so it may take some time for chapter 10. But fear not it will be up. Thanks for reading. Please review! **

**-ILoveTeamSeth**


	10. Author's Note

Sorry guys this is not a chapter, it is an autor's note. I promise there will not be bunch of these, but I felt that it was important to do this to let you all know an estimated time frame of the next update. My laptop is broken and the only way can really update is on the computer downstairs in my house, which is really really slow at times so that has pushed back the update time I had in mind. Also, towards the end of the week I will be going to a friend's sweet sixteen and will be going away on vacation which will continue until about Friday. So there will probably be no update during that time. However, I'm hoping I can get the new chapter up the week before I go to school, so that is about two weeks from now. Look for chapter ten the second week before the end of August, that's when it will most likely be up. I'm sorry guys, just be patient with me.

~ILoveTeamSeth


	11. Chapter 10

**AN: I don't own Naruto, I only own my OC, Lord Yutaka and the rest of his family. And also Akira's parents. **

**Surprise, I managed to update way earlier than I predicted. Who knew that the hotel I was staying at would have a computer I could use? Thank you Marriott! Thank you for being patient with me, and enjoy chapter 10!**

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'He_ kissed me,' _That was the first thought that popped into my head when I woke up the following morning. My fingers flew to my mouth and I closed my eyes, remembering how his lips felt on mine. It felt amazing, like fireworks were exploding the whole time. It was one of those kisses that left you breathless and light-headed. But where did that leave me and Zabuza? Did he have feelings for me, or was he just messing with me? God, if it was the latter his ass is so grass. No, just keep a postive attitude Akira. But, that's hard to do considering who I'm dealing with. Okay Akira, just see how he acts towards you today and then you'll get your answer.

What should I do before I have to report for duty? Maybe I can check out the library I saw yesterday. I could crack open a new book and just chill out on the plush couch. Yeah, that sounds like an excellent idea. Getting out of bed, I changed into a pair of comfy sweatpants and tank top, secured my weapons pouch around my thigh, snapped the kunai pouch around my waist, slipped on my sandals, and left my room. Before hitting the library, I stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a plate of eggs and bacon which were absolutely delicious. After finishing my breakfast, I went to the library.

Stepping into the library, I started to scan the various bookshelves for a good book to read. It took about ten minutes before I found one I liked. It was a romance novel about a young woman and a cold-hearted ninja. I snorted at the irony of it. With the book in hand, I flopped down on the couch and cracked open the book. And, I was correct. This book was so good, I couldn't put it down. From what I read so far the story is about a young woman named Aiko who lived in a small village. She came from a family of merchants. The family wasn't necessarily poor, but they weren't rich either. To help with the income Aiko worked in a small restaurant in the main square of the town. One day, while working she met a ninja from a nearby village named Takeru. Takeru was cold and distant each time Aiko tried to talk to him, but something about him intrigued her. Almost everyday, Takeru would stop into the little restaurant where Aiko worked and his demeanor did not change. It was only when Takeru saved Aiko from a couple of thugs who attacked her when she walking home from work did their relationship start to shift. Little by little, Takeru opened up each time Aiko talked to him, and the attraction between them grew. It grew so much that they entered into a love affair. There wouldn't have been a problem with it, if it wasn't for the fact that Aiko was betrothed to marry another, a man who came from a wealthy family named Shigeru. Shigeru was stuck up and rude, he was everything Aiko didn't want. She was against the marriage, but was being forced to go through with it because her parents were receiving money in return. The story was getting really intense, and when I checked the clock that was in the room I knew that it was time for my shift. I didn't want to put it down, but sadly I had to. I put it one of my poches so I could take it back to my room later.

_Maybe I can stop in the kitchens again real quick and get Haku and me a quick snack? He must be hungry. _I thought as I left the room.

With that in mind, I quickly went to the kitchen grabbed a few apples and started to head out to the meeting spot. Haku was where he was supposed to be, and I walked over to him. Sensing my presence he turned towards me and smiled.

"Hey," I said waving my apple filled hand at him. "Catch." I tossed one of the apples at him, and he easily caught it.

"Thanks Akira," Haku replied with a smile before taking a bite of the bright red fruit.

"What are friends for? Besides I knew you were probably starving. You've been up all morning." I said in return. "Well, I guess I better start patrolling. Don't won't to be caught slacking on the job. Zabuza would have a fit if he found out, and I really don't want to face his wrath and glares of death. It's not really a pleasant sight."

Haku had an amused look on his face clearly conveying to me that he found what I said hilarious and but also an exaggeration.

"Haku, don't give me that look. You might not always be on the receiving end, but somehow I am. I don't know what it is though. Maybe I'm just misunderstood?"

The answer that I got to that question was a very loud snort.

"Fine, you wouldn't understand. I'm just to brilliant and amazing for a mere human to understand." I said.

"So, what does that make you then?" Haku retorted.

"A goddess," I answered simply with my arms crossed and my nose slightly pointed in the air.

Haku coughed trying to cover up his laughter. "Okay, Akira the goddess,whatever you say."

I scowled at him. "Shut up."

Haku shook his head at me. "You're so interesting and weird, but mostly weird."

"I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a compliment or an insult. So, I'm going to take the first option and take it as a compliment. Thank you, Haku."

Another shake of his head, and Haku turned slightly away from me. "I should go. Zabuza would be upset if he found out I was distracting you from your duties. Goodbye, I'll see you later."

"Bye," I called out with a wave in his direction.

"Thank you, again for the apple."

"No problem," I reply. Haku leaves and I am left alone. Gosh, this will probably be super boring. But, I know that no matter how much I whine and groan, I still have to do it.

For the next two, three hours I ran across the perimeter of the large estate, checking carefully into the surrounding forest and around the property for anything out of the ordinary. Even though, I didn't spot anything, that didn't mean that there couldn't be an attack any time soon. A couple of hours into the patrol, my stomach growled loudly notifying me that I was hungry. Time to break out the my secret snack; my apple. Okay, so maybe it wasn't really a secret, but it sounded much more mysterious and awesome that way...or at least it did to me. Anyway, I took the out the apple that was stashed in my kunai pouch and my mouth watered at the thought of eating it. Apples were my favorite fruit in the world, if you didn't already figure it out. It's been that way since I was a toddler. It's one of those things I just can't live without. Stupid and silly but I don't care.

_Now to find a spot to eat._ I thought to myself. _I did see a bench in the garden when Lord Yutaka took us on a tour yesterday. Hmmm, perfect. I shall enjoy my delicious snack there. _

Yeah, I could just sit right where I was standing at, but truthfully I didn't feel like it, and I also wanted to take a closer look at all the flowers that were there. And if you didn't like it, you coud sue me, although I'm pretty sure Momo wouldn't be to thrilled with that. I'm sure one day he's going to explode with all the anger he's got, and I'm quite confident that it will be me who caused it. But, I'll deal with that when it happens. I started walking back to the garden, and sure enough there was a bench like I thought there was, the only problem was someone was already sitting there. It was Hiroshi who was laying lazily on the bench with a book in his hands and what looked like an apple in the other. So, he's an apple lover to. I just found myself a new apple buddy. Sighing, I turned to walk away, when I saw Hiroshi turn his head in my direction. His eyes were trained on me, and I stopped where I was.

"Well, hello there," I said awkwardly, a closed eye smile was on my face.

"Hey," he drawled out lazily, as he turned a page in his book. I let out a small cough because I was unsure of what to do next. I really wanted to sit on that bench to. I guess Hiroshi saw the sad stare I was giving the bench because he gave me a quizzical look and sat up.

"You can sit here if you want," he stated with a raised eyebrow. A huge smile worked its way into my face.

"Thanks," I strolled over to the bench and sat down next to the young man. I took a bite of my apple and let a satisfied moan escape my mouth. I sat in silence eating my snack since the person next to me didn't feel like talking.

"So... what are you reading?" I asked, not being able to take the silence anymore. I mean it was so awkward. We were literally sitting right next to each other, and we hadn't said one word to each other since Hiroshi invited me to sit next to him. Hiroshi looked up from his book with a weary expression plastered on his face.

"It's a mystery/thriller novel," he answered me as he showed me the book cover. I nodded my head appreciatively.

"_The Killing Game_. Seems like an interesting book. I like a good mystery now and then, but it has to be tastefully done and it has to leave me in suspense the entire time. If I can already guess or if I already know who the killer most likely is, than the book was totally not worth the time I spent reading it." I explained.

Hiroshi eyes widened slightly and he nodded his head thoughtfully. "You feel that way to?" he questioned a little eagerly. I nodded my head mutely in answer. He smiled and it was a gorgeous one. Hiroshi has one of those smiles that show his perfectly straight and white teeth every time he smiles. I'm pretty sure it had the women swooning at his feet. If I was a couple of years younger, I would probably be one of those girls. Lord knows he had a killer smile. This was probably the first time I've seen him not have a lazy or bored look on his face.

"I'm actually pleased that someone feels the same way as I do," he said, finally putting the book down beside him.

"Well, my best friend Haku feels the same way to," I replied with my own relaxed smile.

"I'm just seriously glad that we have the same viewpoint. Sometimes it's hard to find that. Like when it comes to reading, the book definitely has to keep me entertained."

"I know. There are so many books that are just a bore to read or just drag out the plotline," I said.

"And then those are complete torture to read."

"I know!" I enthused.

"Have you visited the library yet?" Hiroshi asked.

"Yeah," I responded with a nod. "It was awesome. I think I fell in love with it. There were so many books and the couch was just so soft and comfortable. If I didn't have to work now, I would probably still curled up in there."

"It's my little get away spot. The garden is a close second though. Most of the time when I decide to go out to the garden, I grab a book to read, an apple and just plop down on the bench. That's what I was doing now when you found me."

"I kind of had the same idea as you. Well, everything except for the reading a book thing. I was gonna take a quick break and eat the apple I picked up from the kitchen. Take in the garden while I was at it, before going back to what I had to do." I said while I took a quick bite of my forgotten apple.

Hiroshi nodded his head. "So, are you a ninja or are you an assassin?" he asked. "I mean, I read books about being a ninja, but I never really met one."

"I guess I could be considered a ninja, but I have no affiliation to a village which is the reason I have no forehead protector. But, I can do jutsus and can fight the same like other ninja. Honestly, the only reason why I can do any of that now is because of Zabuza. He basically gave me a choice; work for me or die. Obviously, I chose the first option and when I picked that it meant intensive training. My father helped to. He and my mother used to be shinobi when they were younger."

"That's pretty cool," he said.

"Yeah. My father would train with me a little when I was younger and he taught me the basics mostly. He was so patient to. I remember when he was first teaching me how to throw a shuriken. I had the worst aim in the world. I could barely hit the mark that I was supposed to, and I was just getting frustrated since it wasn't going working out. Each time though, my father he would just calmly walk over, correct my form and give me little bits of advice and encouragement. Eventually, I got it and he was so proud of me." I stated fondly with a laugh.

"Your father, he seems like a very nice dude," Hiroshi said.

"He is," I started to say, but I caught myself. "I mean he was. He and my mother passed away a while ago."

Hiroshi shot me a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry for your lost."

"It's fine," I said as I cleared my throat. "They're in a better place now."

I could feel the familiar prickling in the corner of my eyes when I thought or talked about my parents. "But to also answer your other question from earlier, I'm not an assassin. I haven't killed anyone yet, and I don't do it all the time. Zabuza is one though. I'm pretty sure that's his specialty. "

"Zabuza's the man with the scary, intimidating looking sword right?" Hiroshi questioned with a slightly off-putting expression.

I laughed at his expression. "Yes, that is him." I responded with a small smirk.

Hiroshi shuddered. "Remind me not to mess with him." he said to me.

"He's not that bad. He's actually a sweet guy," I said smiling. Hiroshi shot me a not impressed look. "Okay, he's a sweet guy deep deep deep deep deep down." I corrected with a laugh.

"He's not that bad. Neither is Haku," I stated.

"Haku's the boy who you were with right?"

"Yeah. He's really nice. One of the most kind and gentlest people you could ever meet. You should talk to him. I'm positive that you two would get along."

Hiroshi looked thoughtful then nodded his head. "I might just take you up on your word."

"You should. You won't regret it." I said as I finished up the rest of my apple. "Well, I should probably head back before someone thinks I've slacked on the job." I slipped off the bench and stretched out my arms.

"Don't want that to happen. It would be all my fault." he said playfully with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Yeah, it would be," I retorted back with a wink. Hiroshi laughed a deep laugh.

"I thought you were supposed to deny it?" He asked.

I shook my head 'no'. "You thought wrong." I said with a smirk. "I should go. I'll see you later Hiroshi. It was nice talking to you."

"It was nice talking to you to Akira," he responded with a lazy wave of his hand. I smiled one last time at him, and left the garden but I turned back around to catch Hiroshi going back to the spot he was in when I first found him.

Walking close enough to the woods, I tossed the apple core in there so an animal could eat it. I'm not sure if one actually will, but I'm hoping one does. I didn't feel like carrying it around anymore, and it's always good to recycle. Killing Mother Earth is bad, and I don't want to be on her bad side.

I went back to being bored again, and I was happy that I only had a few more hours to go before Zabuza relieved me. I was actually kind of anxious to see him. Would he choose to acknowledge what happened last night or wouldn't he? I guess I would just have to wait and see. I spent the rest of the time walking around the property and chatting with a few of the guards. It was nighttime when Zabuza did show up. I was sitting on the ground looking up at the full moon and the huge mass of stars when I felt his chakra behind me.

I turned my head over my shoulder so I could see him. "Hey," I greeted softly with a smile.

He didn't respond and I could feel my smile falter some.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" I said attempting to get him to say something to me. Once again there was no response and I let my smile turn into a frown.

"What's wrong?" I questioned concerned. I touches his hand lightly, but I could feel him pull it away.

"Seriously Zabuza, what's your problem?" I asked again, trying to mask the hurt I felt from what he just did.

"You're sitting there not doing what you're supposed to. You would've been dead if I was the enemy."

"But I'm not. I checked the perimeter of the property at least four times before I came here to wait for you." I replied confused.

"Enough time for someone to slip through undetected."

"I don't think that would have happened." I said a little annoyed. "Now what's really bugging you?"

"What happened last night, shouldn't have happened," he stated coldly.

My eyes widened in shock. "What?! Why not?" I demanded. I pushed myself off of the ground and stood up facing him so I could see his face when he gave me an answer.

"It was a mistake," he simply said.

Involuntarily, I took a step forward in anger. "That's not even a reason," I stated as I crossed my arms across my chest tightly.

Zabuza just shrugged his shoulders carelessly as if I just told him what the weather was. "You're just a tool to me Akira. Nothing more," he sneered. "I was just playing with you." he finished with a cruel laugh.

I could feel my breath catch in my throat because his words hurt me deeply. I tried not to let it show, but I'm pretty sure he could see even in the dark that my eyes were shinning with unshed tears.

"You're kidding me right?" I asked with a scoff. Zabuza just continued to stare at me with no emotion. "I can't believe your serious. First of all, I'm a human being with **FEELINGS**, **NOT** some piece of cold hard metal that you can use for your own little purposes. And secondly, I'm **NOT** a toy who's feelings and emotions you can just play with and exploit when you feel like. I'm a woman not some whore you can manhandle and kiss when you feel horny." I ranted with a barely suppressed scream.

I took a quick breath before I went right back into tearing him a new one. "Do you want to know what the crazy thing is?" I asked, but I didn't give him a chance to answer. I really didn't think he deserved one. "The crazy thing is for the entire day since I woke up until now, I have been stressing over what happened last night and what that kiss meant. How I felt towards you and if you had any feelings for me. But, I'm realizing now that I had no reason to worry. I was stupid and naïve to think that you could ever like me. But you don't care do you? You don't even care that I like you!" I screamed at him.

Once again there was no response, like I was expecting one, but one still would have been nice. He was just standing there stoically, avoiding my gaze. The painful feeling of rejection was totally kicking in right now.

"Fine," I said throwing my hands up in frustration. "If this is what you want, fine. You're a complete asshole, Zabuza Momochi." I bumped into his shoulder roughly with mine and attempted to storm away, but a bruising grip on my upper arm stopped me from going any further. It whirled me around to where I was chest to chest with a pissed off Zabuza. Well, the feeling's mutual buddy. No, I'm to pissed and hurt to even call you buddy, even if it was sarcastically.

"I thought I told you to watch what you say to me, Akira." Zabuza growled out. Any other time I would have shivered at the roughness that was present in his voice, but I was to angry to even acknowledge it.

"Was I not being the perfect tool right then Zabuza?" I spat out, with a fake innocent look plastered on my face. "I'm sorry."

His grip on me tightened to the point where it hurt and caused me to wince.

"You always have something smart to say don't you?" he snarled. I thrashed around in his grip.

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't," I retorted.

Zabuza stared at me for what seemed to be for hours and finally let go of my arm. I stumbled slightly and when I knew that he wasn't going to say anything else to me I ran. I ran back to the house with tears running down my cheeks and pain etched deeply into my heart. As soon as I ran into my room, I closed the door and sank down to the floor. Since I was in the comfort of my room, I didn't have to hide my tears.

_Stupid Zabuza. Stupid men. Why do they have to be such douchebags? I mean who kisses a girl just to mess with them. Zabuza freaking Momochi that's who. Stupid jerk face. I'm stupid for actually having feelings for him and ever thinking he could feel the same. I knew it was a bad idea from the start. It's like workplace rule number one; never get involved with your boss because it will never work out. I should have listened to my brain, it sometimes has the right idea. Maybe since he's a demon he's incapable of feeling something like that. No, you know what Akira? He didn't deserve you. You are a beautiful and amazing woman and if he can't see that, then screw him._

With that thought in mind, I let myself cry for a few minutes more before I pulled myself together. I was not going to cry anymore over him. I trudged my way to the bathroom and took a nice hot shower to calm me down. After that, I went to the kitchen to fix me something to eat and when I was done I went back upstairs to my room to finish reading the book from earlier. Maybe Aiko's love life will turn out to be better than mine.

_"...I loved you, Takeru. I loved you with all of my heart, and it hurt me. It hurts that I still love someone who I know will never love me the way I love them. I waited for you to come back for me and to take me with you and when you didn't come back, I was heartbroken." Aiko cried with tears streaming down get cheeks._

_Takeru looked at her with an intense gaze. He saw that,the woman who was in front if him was hurt immensely, and it was his fault._

_"I tried to move on with Shigeru, but everything would remind me of you, and I hated it. I hate what you're doing to me and I wish I could hate you" Aiko said before she was cut off by Takeru's lips._

_His lips met hers in a passionate and fiery kiss that seemed to convey everything he wanted to say to her. When they pulled apart, Aiko was left extremely confused and hopeful. _

_"Takeru," she whispered softly. "I don't understand."_

_"Aiko, I was a fool. I let you go, when I never should have. I was confused by what I was feeling towards you, and I left thinking they would go away, and they didn't. From the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep, you're face haunted me. And then I finally accepted the fact that my heart was yours. I love you Aiko, and I hope it's not to late." Takeru stated. His chest was heaving up and down from the ferocity of his speech._

_Aiko was sobbing. This was what she was waiting to hear. Throwing her arms around his neck, she crashed her lips to his and kissed him with all her might._

_"It's not too late. I love you, Takeru." She proclaimed with a watery smile._

_Takeru smiled back at her. His love, Aiko. "I love you to, Aiko." And with that he pulled her close and kissed Aiko with a smile._

I closed the book and wiped a tear that escaped my eye.

_Well, at least someone got a happy ending,_ I thought with a sigh.

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**AN: So, there you have it folks chapter 10. I hpe you guys liked it. Wow, Zabuza really is a jerk. I hope I didn't upset people with this chapter but as I said before Akira and Zabuza will not be a couple right away. It will be a few more chapters before that happened. Please review and tell me what you think about it. Chapter 11 will be up soon. Thanks for reading :) **

**- ILoveTeamSeth**


	12. Chapter 11

**AN: Hey everyone I know it has been a really long time since I updated this story but it was because of school, homework, and work. Honestly, if you truly are looking for something to blame, you should really blame school I mean they have really been packing on the work. I mean it's only been like a month since it started and I've already had like 100 tests, it's crazy. And now I work after school so when I get home, I'm completely pooped out but I'm forced to stay up until 12 at night trying to do homework. So, you can see the problem here. Junior year is definitely a killer! **

**On a good note though, I just celebrated my birthday a few days ago, and I got my license so that made me really happy!**

**Whew! Anyway enough of my ranting and raving. I want to thank all of those who read and to those who reviewed. I want to dedicate this chapter to CloudyMomochi who has really been awesome with her reviews and her faithfulness to the story. **

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It had been about a month since Haku, Zabuza and I arrived at Lord Yutaka's mansion for the mission. And in that month, there was never an attack made. Everyone, including us, were on edge, anticipating when the enemy would make a move. We were all on alert and there couldn't be room for error. Each day when it was my shift for patrol, I made sure to check carefully anyone or anything was out-of-place. I didn't want to make a mistake or a slip up. This family was quickly becoming dear friends if mine, well it was mostly Hiroshi and Reika, but that didn't matter.

Ever since Hiroshi and I hung out that one day in the garden, we have been inseparable. Everyday it had become a routine for us to hang out on our stone bench when I took my little snack break from patrolling. We would eat apples and talk about our favorite books and the ones we disliked. It was really fun, and it was something I looked forward to each day. Plus, Hiroshi was totally different from what I first thought of him. Hiroshi is such a sweet, albeit lazy guy. I thought I was lazy, but he puts my laziness to shame. Although, his laziness works for him. Hiroshi also has a pretty wicked yet sometimes perverted sense of humor. He also took my advice, and talked to Haku, and the two seemed pretty close. I would always see them together when Haku had time after patrolling, and might I say, the two looked cozy. I havr asked Haku if he had a little crush on Hiroshi, but each time I asked him he would give a stammered refusal, blush as red as a tomato, and would walk away. I thought it was quite funny and obvious that they both liked the other, but they were too stubborn to admit it.

Reika was absolutely adorable. If I had a little sister, I would definitely hope for her to be like Reika. Sometimes before bedtime, I would trek to her room in order for her to braid my hair, or for me to do hers. It was always a blast. Reika had such a creative and imaginative mind that playing make-believe with her was actually entertaining. She never failed to make me smile, and it was pretty hard for someone to resist smiling in return. I'm pretty sure she could make the meanest of men smile, Zabuza was included in that (although, it could be hard to tell because of the mask and stuff).

Speaking of Zabuza, it also has been about a month since the kiss fiasco with him. I was still pretty pissed off at him, and I was ignoring him at all costs. If I saw heading my way in the hallway, I would immediately run into the closest room. Hiroshi thought it was funny, especially since one time it was his room I hid in. He had a ball listening to the sorry excuses I made to explain why I was hiding in his room. Haku on the other hand thought I was being pretty childish, but he didn't understand. When the time came for him to hide from someone he liked then he would know. Despite all of this, I still had a bit of feelings for Zabuza. I know, stupid right? But they were mostly feelings of rage...I'm kind of sort of lying right there. I mean, I'm pretty sure some people had that experience where they still had some feelings for someone even though they did something douche baggy. Still, I have to get over Zabuza and fast. It will be better that way.

Right now though, I was playing "make-believe ninja" with Reika before it was my turn for patrol.

"Oh, no! We still have to save the princess!" Reika cried pointing at one of her dolls that were lying on the ground.

"But we have to save her, or else the Evil Dr. Teddy will feed her to the sharks," I stated dramatically. Evil Dr. Teddy was a small brown teddy bear of Reika's with a top hat, mustache, and monocle we added on. I think it gives him an evil dramatic flair, plus it was pretty darn cute.

"Right, let's do a sneak attack, but we have to be quiet or else he'll know were coming." she said.

I nodded my head in agreement. "Right."

We tiptoed across the across the lawn, and snuck behind the two dolls. When we were close enough I carefully grabbed the princess. Reika kicked Evil Dr. Teddy over, and we both jumped over his fallen stuffed body.

"Haha, we beat you Evil. Dr. Teddy, and we saved the princess." she taunted. I couldn't help but laugh at the scene. It was to adorable, and she was completely serious about the whole ordeal.

"Good job Reika," I said as I patted her on the head. She beamed at me with her toothless grin. I sent her my smile in return. A deep chuckle broke me away from what I was doing. I turned towards the source of the chuckle, and saw Hiroshi standing there with an amused smirk plastered on his face.

"Hiroshi!" Reika greet happily, dropping her doll and ran over to her big brother. She launched herself into his arms, with a large smile plastered on her face. Hiroshi gave her a smile of his own, and squeezed the girl closer to him. I mentally gave a little "awwwwww" at the adorable display of sibling love.

"Hello, little Reika. I see you and Akira were having a fun time," he said shooting me an amused look. I rolled my eyes playfully at him, and picked up the discarded doll.

"We were. We were pretending we were ninja on a top secret mission to save the Princess from the Evil Dr. Teddy," Reika responded moving around in her brother's arms to show him what she was talking about.

"Evil Dr. Teddy?" Hiroshi asked with his voice full of restrained laughter.

"It was Akira's idea," Reika answered. Hiroshi shot me an unsurprised look. I stuck my tongue out at him. I mean that was a pretty clever name. He was evil and he was a doctor. A doctor of being cute that is, but that's just a minor detail.

"Yes, Evil Dr. Teddy. Don't look at me like that Hiroshi. It's a pretty awesome name. You're just hating because you didn't come up with a name that was as amazing as mine, so ha," I huffed. Hiroshi snickered and just shook his head at me, like that was an answer he expected.

"You know, you never end to amuse me," he stated simply. I scowled at him and looked the other way.

"I know, you tell me that like ever other day," I said deadpanned. Hiroshi just gave a hearty laugh in return and put Reika back down on the ground.

"Oh, by the way. Reika, I came out here to tell you that Mom wanted to see you. So playtime's over," Hiroshi said to the little girl. Said girl pouted and stomped her foot on the ground. Clearly, she was displeased with the information she was just given.

"But, me and Akira were playing!" she whined with a frown marring her pretty little face.

"Tough luck kiddo, mom wanted to see you pronto," Hirshoi said. "You can play with Akira later."

Reika just pouted even further. Jeez, she had like the greatest of puppy faces on. Who could dare to resist that? Although, judging by the not amused look Hiroshi's sending her, I'm guessing he can.

"That look won't work on me. I'm immune to it now," Hiroshi said tapping her on the forehead. Reika crossed her arms across her chest and turned towards me.

"He's right Reika. Besides, my shift starts right about now anyway, so I can't play anymore," I said kneeling down to the little girl's height. And so the little girl's puppy dog face got more adorable, and I could slowly feel my defenses crumbling._ No, Akira! You must resist the strong forceful power of the puppy dog eyes. Be strong!_

I could see her start to protest. "But," I said, stopping her protests. "I can play with you later, and we can play whatever it is you want to do. However, you have to be a good girl, and do what your Mom tells you to do."

"Promise?" she asked, her voice was full of hope.

I nodded my head in answer. "Promise."

She held her pinky out to me, and I knew what she wanted me to do. "Pinky promise?" she asked seriously.

I took my pinky and hooked it with hers and gave it a little shake. "Pinky promise." And with that, Reika separated her finger from mine, and launched herself into my arms, giving me a big hug. She caught me off guard so I slightly lost my balance, but I caught myself before I could fall.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She mumbled into the crook of my neck.

I smiled warmly down at her, and gave her a tight squeeze."No problem, kid." I said in return. After a few more moments, I separated myself from her and held her at arm's length, and handed her back her dolls. "Alright, now get going. Your mom is probably waiting for you."

"Okay. I'll see you later Akira!" she cried with a wave, turned and ran her way to her house to see what her mother wanted. Sighing, I pushed myself off the ground and stood up, wiping a bit of dirt off my knee. I turned around, to see that Hiroshi was still there.

"Hey," I said to my friend. He quirked his eyebrow at me, which I presumed to be in his own little way of a greeting. "The polite thing for you to do, would be to say hi in return, you know?"

"But, I already said hi to you remember?" he retorted with a bit of confusion.

"Technically, you said hey to Reika, not me." I said with a coy smile. Hiroshi scoffed, and rolled his eyes at me. I sent him a deadpan look, waiting for him to give me what I wanted.

I guess he noticed that I was just standing there waiting because he gave a long sigh. "Hey, Akira."

I flashed him a bright smile. "Now, was that so hard?" I got no response in return, and I couldn't blame him. He was probably so annoyed by now, it was actually kind of funny. "Do you want to walk with me? I got to go relieve Haku from his shift. I mean you get to see your new_ super_ close friend." I made sure to put a lot of emphasize on the super, I just knew that Hiroshi was feeling a little something for my dear friend Haku, and it was just pissing me off that no one was telling me anything.

"We're not like that," he stated, although the blush on his contradicted what he just said. And I was ready to call him out on it.

"But, the blush on your face totally contradicts what you are trying to tell me," I pointed out.

"That doesn't mean anything. It could be because I feel extremely hot now. The heat could be getting to me." He rebutted. I couldn't help but send him a "are-you-fucking-serious" look, which he had the decency to look a little embarrassed about.

"Are you fucking serious?" I voiced aloud. I couldn't help it. I had to say it.

"Alright, fine! Maybe I do like him, just a little bit." he finally confessed, and I couldn't but squeal, jump up and down, and clap my hands.

"Oh my gosh! I knew it! I freaking knew it!" I screeched. I was so happy. I mean they would look so cute together. I mean they were both kind of quiet, gentle, and really sweet. Hiroshi is lazy, smart, and really nice once you get to know him. While Haku is gentle, kind, and caring. They complemented each other, if you asked me. "You guys would be so cute togehter!"

"Thanks, I guess," he mumbled. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"So, what do you like about him?" I asked once I calmed down some.

Hiroshi had this soft smile on his face, as soon as I asked the question. "I don't know. I mean, we have the same taste in books. He has a funny sense of humor once you get to know him. He's kind and caring, and I never hear him utter a hurtful word against someone. I don't know, I just like his personality and find it kind of endearing. "

"D'aww, that's adorable." I tease as I pinched his cheek. Hirsohi swatted my hand away, and pushed my shoulder lightly. I laughed. Now, all I had to do was get Haku to admit he has some feelings for Hiroshi, and then I could get them together, with a little pushing of course.

"Shut up," he said.

"Okay, I'll let it go for now, but eventually I'm going to get you guys together." I vow seriously. Hiroshi just shakes his head. "Okay, now lets go find Haku, he's probably wondering where I am."

We walked off to where I knew Haku would be waiting for me to relieve him from his shift. When we got there I saw him standing there patiently waiting for me. Although, I did notice that his cheeks got a little red, and his eyes sparked with concealed happiness when he saw that Hiroshi was with me.

"Hey, sorry I'm a little late. I was messing around with Reika, and then I met up with Hirsohi here. We started talking, and I lost track of time." I apologized. Haku waved me off with a reassuring smile.

"It's not a problem at all," he replied. He then turned his attention to the teen next to me. "Hello, Hiroshi."

"Hey Haku," Hiroshi greeted in reply. It got kind of quiet after that, and I'm guessing that it was maybe because I was there, and they just wanted some time alone without me.

"Well, I better get going. I'll see you guys later than." I said with a small wave of my hand, and I started walking in the opposite direction away from them, although I was still listening to what they were saying.

"Do you want to go hang out in the library with me?" Hiroshi questioned, and I could tell by the tone of his voice that there was a little nervousness present in it.

"I would love to," Haku answered softly, and I knew that his face was probably as red as a tomato right now. I couldn't help but smile at the two. At least their love life is moving along quite well, where mine was pretty much nonexistent, but I'm not going to get all depressed about it. Nope, not at all.

For the next few hours I did what I normally did, walked/jogged around the grounds, checking for anything out of the ordinary. And like the other times, there wasn't anything there. So when it came time to take a break, I headed out to the garden to have my little snack I packed. I didn't see Hiroshi there like he usually was, and I figured that he was hanging out with Haku, which I couldn't blame him for doing. After finishing my snack, I went back to patrolling until my shift was over. When Zabuza came, I didn't utter one word to him, and he did the same. But, I couldn't help but feel like we were being watched, but when I turned to check to see if someone was there, I saw nothing. I could see Zabuza sending me a questioning glare, but I brushed it off.

"I thought I saw something, but it was nothing," I muttered as a response to his unsaid question. Even though I didn't see anything I couldn't help but feel like someone was still there.

'Maybe, it could be because you're tired,' I thought to myself. 'Yeah, that could be it.'

With that in mind I went back to the house, and grabbed me a quick dinner. It was really good, so good that it made me much sleepier than what I was. I headed up to my room, and changed into my pajamas. I pulled back the covers, and snuggled into my warm bed. I know I promised Reika that I would play with her later, but I was tired. It wasn't even a couple of minutes after I fell into bed that I drifted into dreamland.

* * *

I'm a light sleeper, so a muffled scream broke me out of my sleep. I thought, I was just hearing things until I heard it again, only this time louder. I jumped out of my bed grabbed my weapons pouch and a kunai, and left the room as quickly as I could. As soon as I stepped into the hallway, I saw that Haku was already there. Once again the person screamed, and with a startling realization, I knew it was Reika.

"Reika," I whispered. I ran down to her room, seeing some guards running in my direction, but I got there first. I pushed open the door, and saw an unknown man holding a flailing tied up Reika in his arms.

"Looks like I've got company," he states amused. I snarled and ran towards him, but he quickly jumped out the window. Not thinking I followed, and I could hear Reika calling my name desperately, only to have the kidnapper knock her out unconscious.

"Akira!" Haku shouted.

"Tell Zabuza what happened, but he might have his hands full right now!" I shouted back. It was now that I realized that there unknown fighters fighting with guards around the grounds. One of them came towards me with a kunai, but I effortlessly took him down. I didn't have time to dwell on it. I had to turn my attention back to the man who had Reika.

He was further ahead of me, but I had to get to Reika. I just had to. I wasn't going to let anything happen to her. I took a few shuriken out of my pouch and threw them at him, although I was careful of not hitting Reika. The kidnapper easily evaded them, and even caught one in mid-flight and hurled it back at me. I dodged it, and continued forward.

I jumped from tree to tree, and each time adding more speed. I had chased after him for a while when I noticed that there was a clearing up ahead. I knew I would have to fight him to get Reika back, and I knew that if I could get him in the clearing, I would be able to see him better and could face him. I waited a few more seconds until I decided to enact my plan.

I formed a few hand seals and said, "Wind Style: Air Hurricane Jutsu." A strong gust of wind flew from my hands and in the direction of the kidnapper. The wind blew him harshly off of the branch he was on, and instead of falling off like I wanted him to, he jumped onto another tree branch and down into the clearing below. I followed him quickly, and hopped down to the forest floor with a kunai in hand. The moon shinning through the tops of the trees was the only source of light in the otherwise dark clearing.

I finally was able to get a good look at the abductor since I was facing him head on. He was tall, and had a lean body. He had skin that was pale and fair, that glowed when the moonlight hit it. His dark green eyes shone bright with malice and mischievousness. They were cold, and I could feel his stare piercing into my soul. His bright green hair contrasted sharply with his skin. It made him seem really creepy. He had a headband with an unknown crossed out village wrapped around his upper arm. Overall he looked tp be in his mid twenties.

"Well, well, look who finally caught up," he drawled out mockingly. A sneer was present on his flawless face.

"Who are you?" I harshly asked with a frown on my face. He laughed a cruel laugh, the sneer widening as he did so.

"Who am I?" he repeated. "My name...my name is Yukio Umino."

"What do you want with the girl?" I growled.

He 'tsked' and slipped a kunai out of his weapons pouch and moved it swiftly under Reika's neck. I tensed slightly and my grip on my kunai tightened to where my knuckles were changing color. "So rude. It is polite to tell me your name since I told you mine. I mean you wouldn't want your little friend to pay for your impoliteness, now would you?" he said in a condescending tone, although I could detect there was a bit of playfulness in his voice. Almost like he enjoyed toying with me.

"My name is Akira Kato," I manged to ground out between clenched teeth. My glare only intensified now by like a thousand degrees. "You can move the kunai from her neck now. I gave you what you wanted. " He did what I said, but I knew he could change his mind when he wanted.

"Hmm," he hummed. "Was that so hard?" He laughed again, and I was quickly getting sick of hearing it.

"What do you want with the girl?" I asked again, completely ignoring his question.

He just smiled simply, as if I asked him what his favorite food was. "It's not really I who want her, but rather my employer."

"And would your employer happen to be Lord Shigeru?" I questioned even though I already had the answer.

"Very good. You're a smart one, I see?"

"Look, if you just hand over the girl, there won't be any trouble," I stated seriously.

He shook his head in amusement. "See, I can't do that. It would cause me to much problems. I would get yelled at, and then I would have to kill someone to get the money I'm owed, and all of that nasty bothersome stuff. It's really crazy." he stated. I couldn't help but look at him like he was crazy. He was really starting to irk my nerves.

"Look, I'm trying to be nice about it." I growled. "But, if you don't hand her over right now, I will fight you."

He faked a shudder. "Oooh, I'm so scared. Ha, like you could beat me."

"You'd be surprised at what I can do."

"Is that a challenge, I hear?" he questioned with a smirk.

I nodded my head in yes. "It will be, if you don't give her to me." I answered. I really didn't feel like fighting someone at this time at night, but I will if I have to. He had Reika, and I was not going to let something else happen to her.

"I told you, I can't do that." he said simply.

"Then I guess you have your answer." I replied.

Yukio gave a short laugh. "I guess I do."

He quickly moved back and placed the still unconscious Reika against a tree. He then turned his attention back to me, and I couldn't help but shudder at his stare that was starting to get more bloodthirsty by the minute.

"Be prepared to lose." Yukio stated before rushing towards me.

* * *

**AN: So, there it is Chapter 11! I finally got it out, whew. I 'm not really sure if I liked the ending. I wasn't sure how to end it, so I did it like this. Please don't kill me because it was so bad. I'm not sure when Chapter 12 will be out, because of my schedule and all, but trust me, it will be posted. Thanks for waiting, reading, and hopefully you liked it. Please review! :)**


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